S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-590 – 143)[Repealed effective January 1, 2010] Designated producers

(a) Not more than six months after July 9, 1974, or at an earlier time as the director or his designee considers necessary by reason of complaints regarding want of access to automobile insurance in particular areas or want of outlets for producers, the director or his designee shall survey the various areas of the State to ascertain if sufficient marketing outlets exist in all areas or are available to all producers. Upon a finding by the director or his designee that insufficient marketing outlets exist in particular areas or that certain producers have been deprived of a market for risks previously serviced by them, the director or his designee may, after consultation with the facility, designate one or more insurers to service the areas through agents appointed by them or may designate the producers as the agents of any insurer. The arrangements must include provision for one hundred percent quota share reinsurance through the facility of any automobile insurance policy marketed through the arrangements, at the option of the insurer, and the reinsurance is not subject to the statutory provisions or regulations regarding excessive utilization of the facility.
(b) After the effective date of this section, those producers previously designated by the director or his designee may continue to serve in that capacity under the jurisdiction and control of the governing board of the facility, except that any change in the rate of commissions allowed designated producers is subject to the approval of the director or his designee.
(c) A producer may be designated by the governing board of the facility upon application for designation and is eligible for designation upon a finding by the governing board that the applicant meets the following qualifications:
1. (1) The applicant has been, for ten continuous years, a licensed resident property and casualty insurance agent and agency owner or principal with authority from one or more licensed insurers to write liability and physical damage insurance on private passenger automobiles;
2. (2) At the time of application the applicant is servicing and owns the renewals on private passenger and commercial automobile insurance business, the net premiums on which exceeded seventy-five thousand dollars of potential cedeable automobile insurance during any one of the previous five calendar years preceding the application;
3. (3) Neither the applicant, nor any employee of the applicant or the applicant's corporate agency, nor any partner or shareholder in any related insurance agency, related premium service company, or related other business, has any direct or indirect connection with any voluntary market outlet for the purpose of writing any type of automobile insurance in this State except for motorcycle insurance and types not cedeable to the facility;
4. (4) The applicant has not contributed to his termination as agent by any insurer because of any illegal breach of agency agreement or other related, improper, or unethical conduct; and
5. (5) The books, records, and accounts of the insurance business of the applicant have been audited at the expense of the applicant and found by the governing board to be indicative of a financially sound operation.
(d) Before designation as a producer, the applicant shall furnish at his expense a bond in an amount of not less than fifty thousand dollars for the faithful performance of the duties as a producer, executed by the applicant as principal and a corporate surety licensed to do business in this State as surety, and shall also have effective errors and omissions insurance by an insurer licensed to do business in this State, with the bond and errors and omissions insurance being subject to approval by the governing board.
(e) The governing board shall assign a specific location to each producer designated. The governing board shall determine from the director or his designee the locations assigned by him to those producers whom the director or his designee has designated. Designated producers may not open or maintain any other locations without the written authorization of the governing board; provided, however, that an applicant maintaining multiple offices on June 4, 1987, is entitled to maintain two locations as a designated agent which he owned and operated at that time and through which premiums in at least the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars were written. The governing board shall terminate the designation, and the director or his designee shall revoke all agents' licenses of any producer who does not comply with this requirement upon demand by the governing board. Upon termination, the producer's expirations on designated business become the property of the facility.
(f) The designation of a producer by the director or his designee or the governing board is transferable to a spouse, child, parent, brother, or sister of the producer upon the designated producer's retirement, incapacity, or death. The duties of a designated producer may be performed by one or more qualified employees of the producer or the producer's corporate agency.
(g) A designated carrier who fails a claims audit shall have no new designated producer assignments until the time it passes a re-audit within a reasonable time prescribed by the governing board. If this carrier fails two claims audits, including a re-audit, within any three-year period, that carrier is disqualified for renewal of its contract with the facility upon expiration of its existing contract.
A producer designated under this section may not write new private passenger and commercial automobile insurance business to be placed in the facility after March 1, 1999. A policy with an effective date after March 1, 2002 shall not be accepted by the facility.