Arkansas Insurance Statutes, Rules, and Regulations
The regulator
The Arkansas Insurance Department (AID), headed by the Insurance Commissioner -- appointed by the Governor, not elected -- administers Title 23 of the Arkansas Code. Know the Commissioner's toolkit: examining insurers and producers, issuing and revoking licenses, holding hearings, adopting rules, levying fines and penalties, issuing cease-and-desist orders, and placing an impaired insurer into rehabilitation or liquidation.
Licensing and conduct of business
A producer must hold a line-specific license and be appointed by the insurer before soliciting; the appointment is filed with the Department. Licenses renew biennially and require continuing education (24 hours per two-year term, including an ethics component). Premiums collected are trust funds: commingling premium with agency operating money is grounds for revocation, and records must be kept available for examination.
Market conduct rules
The unfair trade practice list is heavily tested: misrepresentation, twisting (replacement induced by misrepresentation), rebating (sharing commission or offering inducements not stated in the policy), false advertising, boycott/coercion/intimidation, and unfair claim settlement practices such as failing to investigate, offering substantially less than owed, or delaying without cause. The insurance fraud provisions make knowingly false applications and claims criminal acts.
Safety nets
The Arkansas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund responds to covered claims against insolvent P&C insurers, within statutory caps. It is not a substitute for the policy and never covers obligations of a solvent insurer.
Trap
Separate license from appointment: a licensed producer who has not been appointed cannot write business for that insurer, and rebating is illegal even when the customer requests it.
Rule of thumb
If a producer's license has lapsed, every act of solicitation is unlicensed activity and commissions may be forfeited -- there is no grace period for selling.