(1) An employee or agent of a rental car insurance producer may be an endorsee authorized to offer, sell, or solicit rental car insurance under the authority of the rental car insurance producer license, if all of the following conditions have been satisfied:

(a) The employee or agent is eighteen years of age or older;

(b) The employee or agent is a trustworthy person and has not committed any act set forth in RCW 48.17.530;

(c) The employee or agent has completed a training and education program;

(d) The rental car company, at the time it submits its rental car insurance producer license application, also submits a list of the names of all endorsees to its rental car insurance producer license on forms prescribed by the commissioner. The list shall be updated and submitted to the commissioner quarterly on a calendar year basis. Each list shall be retained by the rental car company for a period of three years from submission; and

(e) The rental car company or its agent submits to the commissioner with its initial rental car insurance producer license application, and annually thereafter, a certification subscribed by an officer of the rental car company on a form prescribed by the commissioner, stating all of the following:

(i) No person other than an endorsee offers, sells, or solicits rental car insurance on its behalf or while working as an employee or agent of the rental car insurance producer; and

(ii) All endorsees have completed the training and education program under subsection (4) of this section.

(2) A rental car insurance producer's endorsee may only act on behalf of the rental car insurance producer in the offer, sale, or solicitation of a rental car insurance. A rental car insurance producer is responsible for, and must supervise, all actions of its endorsees related to the offering, sale, or solicitation of rental car insurance. The conduct of an endorsee acting within the scope of his or her employment or agency is the same as the conduct of the rental car insurance producer for purposes of this chapter.

(3) The manager at each location of a rental car insurance producer, or the direct supervisor of the rental car insurance producer's endorsees at each location, must be an endorsee of that rental car insurance producer and is responsible for the supervision of each additional endorsee at that location. Each rental car insurance producer shall identify the endorsee who is the manager or direct supervisor at each location in the endorsee list that it submits under subsection (1)(d) of this section.

(4) Each rental car insurance producer shall provide a training and education program for each endorsee prior to allowing an endorsee to offer, sell, or solicit rental car insurance. Details of the program must be submitted to the commissioner, along with the license application, for approval prior to use, and resubmitted for approval of any changes prior to use. This training program shall meet the following minimum standards:

(a) Each endorsee shall receive instruction about the kinds of insurance authorized under this chapter that may be offered for sale to prospective renters; and

(b) Each endorsee shall receive training about the requirements and limitations imposed on rental car insurance producers and endorsees under this chapter. The training must include specific instruction that the endorsee is prohibited by law from making any statement or engaging in any conduct express or implied, that would lead a consumer to believe that the:

(i) Purchase of rental car insurance is required in order for the renter to rent a motor vehicle;

(ii) Renter does not have insurance policies in place that already provide the coverage being offered by the rental car company under this chapter; or

(iii) Endorsee is qualified to evaluate the adequacy of the renter's existing insurance coverages.

(5) The training and education program submitted to the commissioner is approved if no action is taken within thirty days of its submission.

(6) An endorsee's authorization to offer, sell, or solicit rental car insurance expires when the endorsee's employment with the rental car company is terminated.

(7) The rental car insurance producer shall retain for a period of one year from the date of each transaction records which enable it to identify the name of the endorsee involved in each rental transaction when a renter purchases rental car insurance.

Severability—Effective date—2008 c 217: See notes following RCW 48.03.020.