4% increase in business entity licensure from 2016 to 2017

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr today released the following statement announcing an 4% increase in business entity licensure in 2017 over the previous year:

“The steady increase of licensed business entities is yet more proof that Arkansas is open for business to the insurance industry.  Our move toward online licensure has made it easier for agents and agencies to sell their products in Arkansas.  Today, over 90% of our licenses are issued online.  Our goal is to make it 100%.”

At the end of 2017, the Arkansas Insurance Department licensed 9,269 business agencies, an increase over the 8,896 at the end of 2016.  The following types of business entities are licensed in Arkansas: Surplus Lines Agencies, Consultant Agencies, Title Insurance Agencies, Third-Party Administrators, Managing General Agencies, Self-Funded Insurance Plans, Mutli-Employer Welfare Trusts, Multi-Employer Trusts, Reinsurance Intermediaries, Risk Retention Agencies, Health Insurance Exchange Agencies, and Viatical Brokers.  Car rental agencies and self-storage facilities that sell insurance coverage are also licensed by AID, as are retail stores that sell insurance to cover portable electronic devices.

Since the end of 2014, the amount of licensed business entities has increased 7%.

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