Appointment/Affiliation Procedures
A. Initial Appointments and Affiliations
Individuals or business entities licensed as AGENTS must be appointed by an insurer(s) and notice of the appointment must be furnished to the Office of Insurance Commissioner by the insurer on an Appointment/Affiliation Notice INS-18 (PDF 13Kb), or electronically through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) gateway. Agents must be licensed for all the lines of insurance the appointing insurer is authorized to transact.
A licensed insurance agent may act as a representative of an insurer and solicit insurance on its behalf prior to the submission of the Notice of Appointment to our office if the following two requirements are met:
- The agent is appointed by the insurer to represent it and solicit insurance business on its behalf.
- The Notice of Appointment must be submitted electronically to the Washington Insurance Commissioner through the NIPR gateway within thirty (30) calendar days of the acceptance of the first piece of business. The insurer will set the effective date of the appointment to be the date of the acceptance of the first application by the licensee or earlier, but not to exceed 30 calendar days.
Insurers that would like to take advantage of this time-saving option should visit www.licenseregistry.com to learn more about NIPR and how to access its services. If an insurer wishes to submit an appointment for a licensee manually, a completed Notice of Appointment and $20 fee per licensee must be submitted and processed prior to representing the insurer.
AGENTS, BROKERS and ADJUSTERS acting on behalf of a business entity must be affiliated with it and notice of the affiliation must be provided to the Office of Insurance Commissioner on form INS-18 (PDF 13Kb). Affiliations cannot be submitted electronically. The appointment or affiliation will be recorded on the licensee’s record and an Appointment/Affiliation Certificate returned to the insurer or business entity for distribution to the licensee.
Appointments are initially issued to the next expiration date of the insurer’s appointments. An appointment will expire biennially on the insurer’s assigned renewal date. The insurer will be sent a renewal list approximately 45 days prior to the appointments expiration date. They will indicate by circling “yes” that they wish to renew an appointment and return the signed renewal list with the $20 per renewed appointment.
Affiliations are initially issued to the next expiration of the affiliating business entity. An affiliation will expire biennially on the business entity’s renewal date. The business entity will be sent a license renewal and an affiliation renewal list approximately 45 days prior to their expiration date. They will indicate by circling “yes” that they wish to renew an affiliation and return the signed renewal list with the $20 per renewed affiliation with its license renewal and appropriate license renewal fee.
B. Expirations and Terminations
An appointment/affiliation is terminated when the licensee’s qualification license expires or is revoked, or when notice of the termination of the appointment/affiliation is filed with the Commissioner, whichever occurs first. To file this notice use “Termination of Appointment/Affiliation” form INS-24 (PDF 63Kb) or provide required information in letter form. You may also terminate appointments electronically through the NIPR gateway. Visit www.licenseregistry.com for further information regarding this process. Affiliations cannot be terminated electronically.
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