No insurer shall participate in any plan to offer or effect any kind or kinds of insurance or annuities in this state as an inducement to the purchase or rental by the public of any property, real or personal or mixed, or services, without any separate charge to the insured for such insurance, nor shall any agent, broker, or solicitor arrange the sale of any such insurance. The provisions of this article shall not be applicable to insurance written in connection with subscriptions to newspapers of general circulation; nor shall it apply to insurance issued to credit unions or to members of credit unions in connection with the purchase of shares in such a credit union; nor shall it apply to insurance offered as a guarantee of the performance of goods, which insurance is designed to protect the purchasers or users of such goods; nor shall it be applicable to any title insurance or life or disability insurance written in connection with an indebtedness, the purpose of which insurance is to pay the balance of the indebtedness in the event of the death or disability of the person insured; nor shall it be applicable to any of the provisions of Part 5 (commencing at Section 12140), Division 2 of this code; nor shall it be applicable to insurance provided incidentally to the sale of services if the cost of the insurance to the seller of the services does not exceed the sum of one dollar ($1) per annum for each purchaser of those services.
(Amended by Stats. 1985, Ch. 334, Sec. 1.)
If any insurer, agent, broker or solicitor wilfully violates the provisions of this article, the Insurance Commissioner may suspend or revoke his certificate or license or other authority to do business or engage in his occupation for a period not exceeding one year. The proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the commissioner shall have all the powers granted therein.
(Added by Stats. 1957, Ch. 520.)
As used in this article ?insurer? includes any person or organization to which Article 4 (commencing with Section 730), Chapter 1, Part 2, Division 1 is applicable.
(Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 265.)