Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 23 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND REGULATED INDUSTRIES (§§ 23-1-101 — 23-119-105) › Subtitle 3 - INSURANCE (§§ 23-60-101 — 23-103-417) › Chapter 64 - LICENSEES, AGENTS, BROKERS, ADJUSTERS, AND CONSULTANTS (§§ 23-64-101 — 23-64-614) › Subchapter 2 - LICENSING AND APPOINTMENT (§§ 23-64-201 — 23-64-234) › Section 23-64-210 - Licensing of adjuster and insurance consulting partnerships, limited partnerships, joint ventures, limited liability companies, and corporations

(a)
(1)
(A)
An adjusting or insurance consulting partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation may be licensed only as a licensee.
(B)
If a partnership, limited partnership, or joint venture, each general partner and each other individual to act for it under the license, and if a limited liability company or a corporation, each individual to act for it under the license, shall be named in the license and shall qualify for the license as though an individual licensee.
(2)
The Insurance Commissioner shall charge, and the licensee shall pay, a full additional license fee as to each respective individual so named in the license in excess of one (1) licensee.
(b)
(1)
The commissioner in his or her discretion may issue a license to a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation organized under the laws of another state if the partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation is licensed as a resident licensee under the laws of its state of domicile.
(2)
(A)
Each individual authorized to act on behalf of a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation under the license shall be named in the license and shall qualify therefor as though an individual licensee under the provisions of the Arkansas Insurance Code.
(B)
The commissioner shall charge, and the licensee shall pay, a full additional license fee as to each respective individual licensee in the license in excess of one (1), in the amounts stated in §
23-61-401
and any existing or future rule.
(3)
The nonresident licensee shall promptly notify the commissioner of all changes among its members, partners, directors, managers, and officers, and all other individuals designated in the license.
(c)
Within ten (10) days, each licensee shall notify the commissioner of all changes among its members, directors, officers, and all other individuals designated in the license.
(d)
(1)
Every firm, limited liability company, or corporation licensed and every applicant for a license shall file with the commissioner the true name of the firm, limited liability company, or corporation and also all fictitious names under which it conducts or intends to conduct its business and, after licensing, shall file with the commissioner any change in or discontinuance of those names.
(2)
The commissioner may disapprove in writing the use of any name on any of the following grounds:
(A)
The name is identical to or is similar to that of another licensee so as to confuse or otherwise mislead the public;
(B)
The name includes words or phrases that may mislead the public as to activities not authorized under the license or which are in violation of any insurance law or insurance regulation;
(C)
The name states, infers, or implies that the firm, limited liability company, or corporation is an insurer, motor club, or hospital service plan or entitled to engage in insurance activities not permitted under the license applied for or held; or
(D)
Other reasonable grounds as the commissioner may determine.
(3)
The grounds specified in subdivisions (d)(2)(B) and (d)(2)(D) of this section shall not be applicable to the true name of any firm or corporation which on March 21, 1985, held a license issued under this subchapter.
(e)
In the event an insurer does not wish to provide for the authority of all such agents authorized under the license of a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation to act on their behalf, that insurer may appoint specific agents individually within it, and they may act on the behalf of the insurer, but only:
(1)
While acting on the behalf of the partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation; and
(2)
If among those specific agents individually appointed, there is one (1) general partner, one (1) officer of the corporation, or one (1) manager of the limited liability company or joint venture.
(f)
Every partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation receiving a license pursuant to this section, shall designate and continuously maintain in the state:
(1)
A registered office that may be the same as any of its places of business; and
(2)
A registered agent, who may be:
(A)
An individual who resides in this state and whose business office is identical with the registered office;
(B)
A state bank, domestic corporation, or not-for-profit corporation whose business office is identical with the registered office; or
(C)
A foreign corporation or foreign not-for-profit corporation authorized to transact business in this state whose business office is identical with the registered office.
(g)
(1)
The partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation may change its registered office or registered agent by delivering to the commissioner for filing a statement of change that sets forth:
(A)
Its name;
(B)
The street address of its current registered office;
(C)
If the current registered office is to be changed, the street address of its new registered office;
(D)
The name of its current registered agent;
(E)
If the current registered agent is to be changed, the name of its new registered agent with the new agent's written consent to the appointment, either on the statement or attached to it; and
(F)
That after the change or changes are made, the street addresses of its registered office and the business office of its reciprocal agent will be identical.
(2)
If a registered agent changes the street address of the registered agent's business office, he or she may change the street address of the registered office of any foreign insurer holding a certificate of authority to transact business in Arkansas or any domestic reciprocal insurer for which he or she is the registered agent by:
(A)
Notifying the insurer in writing of the change; and
(B)
Signing, either manually or in facsimile, and delivering to the commissioner for filing a statement of change that:
(i)
Complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section; and
(ii)
Recites that the insurer has been notified of the change.
(h)
(1)
The registered agent of a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation, holding a license under this section, may resign his or her agency appointment by signing and delivering to the commissioner for filing the original and two (2) exact or conformed copies of a statement of resignation. The statement of resignation may include a statement that the registered office is also discontinued.
(2)
After filing the statement, the commissioner shall attach the filing receipt to one (1) copy and mail the copy and receipt to the registered office if not discontinued. The commissioner shall mail the other copy to the partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation at its principal office address shown in its most recent annual report.
(3)
The agency appointment is terminated, and the registered office discontinued if so provided, on the thirty-first day after the date on which the statement was filed.
(i)
(1)
The registered agent of a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation holding a license issued pursuant to this section in Arkansas is the insurer's agent for service of process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on it.
(2)
A partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to its managing partner, manager, president, or secretary at its principal office shown in its application for a license if it:
(A)
Has no registered agent or its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served;
(B)
Has withdrawn from transacting business in this state; or
(C)
Has had its license revoked under this subchapter.
(3)
Service is perfected at the earliest of:
(A)
The date the insurer receives the mail;
(B)
The date shown on the return receipt, if signed on behalf of the insurer; or
(C)
Five (5) days after its deposit in the United States mail, as evidenced by the postmark, if mailed postpaid and correctly addressed.
(4)
This section does not prescribe the only means or necessarily the required means of serving a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or corporation holding a license under this section.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 315,§ 2649, eff. 7/24/2019.
Acts 1959, No. 148, § 155; 1983, No. 522, §§ 13, 14; 1985, No. 484, §§ 1, 2; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 66-2812, 66-2812.1, 66-2812.2; Acts 1987, No. 456, § 11; 1987, No. 622, § 3; 1991, No. 1143, § 1; 1997, No. 1004, § 1; 2001, No. 580, § 13.