A resident property and casualty-licensed insurance producer may be licensed as an insurance broker by the director or his designee if the following requirements are met:

(1) licensure of the resident as an insurance producer for the same lines of insurance for which he proposes to apply as a broker of this State;

(2) successfully passed the South Carolina broker licensing examination;

(3) payment of a biennial license fee of two hundred dollars which is earned fully when received, not refundable;

(4) filing of a bond with the department in a form approved by the Attorney General in favor of South Carolina of ten thousand dollars executed by a corporate surety licensed to transact surety insurance in this State and personally countersigned by a licensed resident agent of the surety. The bond must be conditioned to pay a person insured or seeking insurance through the broker who sustains loss as a result of:

(a) the broker's violation of or failure to comply with an insurance law or regulation of this State;

(b) the broker's failure to transmit properly a payment received by him, cash or credit, for transmission to an insurer or an insured; or

(c) an act of fraud committed by the broker in connection with an insurance transaction. Instead of a bond, the broker may file with the department certificates of deposit of ten thousand dollars of building and loan associations or federal savings and loan associations located within the State in which deposits are guaranteed by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, not to exceed the amount of insurance, or of banks located within the State in which deposits are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, not to exceed the amount of insurance. An aggrieved person may institute an action in the county of his residence against the broker or his surety, or both, to recover on the bond or against the broker to recover from the certificates of deposit, and a copy of the summons and complaint in the action must be served on the director, who is not required to be made a party to the action;

(5) payment to the department, within thirty days after March thirty-first, June thirtieth, September thirtieth, and December thirty-first each year, of the broker's premium tax rate upon premiums for policies of insurers not licensed in this State. In computing total premiums, return premiums on risks and dividends paid or credited to policyholders are excluded. The credit must be refunded to the policyholder.

HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-45-20 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-802; 1962 Code Section 37-802] recodified as Section 38-17-20 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; Former 1976 Code Sections 38-47-20 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-202; 1962 Code Section 37-202] and Section 38-47-30 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-203; 1960 (51) 1646; 1962 Code Section 37-203; 1969 (56) 240; 1970 (56) 2497; 1981 Act No. 11, Section 1; 1981 Act No. 44, Section 1] recodified as Section 38-45-20 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 314, Section 5; 1989 Act No. 52, Section 3; 1990 Act No. 379, Section 1; 1992 Act No. 501, Part II Section 11J; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 672; 2000 Act No. 312, Section 9; 2003 Act No. 73, Section 13, eff January 31, 2004; 2004 Act No. 291, Section 11, eff July 29, 2004; 2008 Act No. 326, Section 12, eff June 16, 2008; 2009 Act No. 69, Section 8, eff June 2, 2009; 2012 Act No. 283, Section 1, eff January 1, 2012.