A Do-Not-Call Refresher

Make sure your phone habits comply with the federal rules, or it could mean a hefty fine.

By Advisor Today staff

The federal do-not-call rules prohibit anyone from making telephone solicitations to telephone numbers that are registered in the national do-not-call database. Sellers who improperly call a number on the registry could be fined up to $11,000 per call.

Insurance and financial advisors are not exempt from federal do-not-call rules, despite NAIFA’s advocacy efforts to provide an exception for its members. The FCC’s do-not-call rules generally prohibit you from calling a number on the do-not-call registry unless you have an “established business relationship” (EBR) with the consumer or his prior written consent. An agent may call a number on the federal do-not-call registry if:

• The agent placed the consumer’s insurance contract within the prior 18 months. An agent’s EBR with a consumer lasts only for the 18 months after the policy placement or other transaction.
  
• The agent calls on behalf of a company that has a policy in place with the consumer. The fact that the policy an agent placed is still in effect does not create an EBR between the agent and the consumer after 18 months, but does create an ongoing EBR between the consumer and the company until the policy expires or is terminated. If an insurance company asks its agent to place calls to policyholders on the company’s behalf (and not for the agent’s own independent purposes), the agent may do so even to numbers listed on the do-not-call registry. An agent can also call on a company’s behalf for 18 months after a policy terminates. When making calls on a company’s behalf, agents should make sure the consumer is not on the company’s own do-not-call list.
  
• The agent has an EBR with a consumer based on a voluntary two-way communication between the agent and consumer within the prior 18 months. An EBR is not established by one-way communications to a consumer, such as transmittal of a privacy policy or similar notification.
  
• A consumer made an inquiry or application regarding the agent’s products or services within three months before the call, provided the inquiry or application would have created an expectation by the consumer that the agent would call.
  
• The agent has the consumer’s signed, written permission to call the listed number.

Other important elements of the do-not-call rules include:

• Calls to consumers based on referrals are subject to the do-not-call rules, and may not be made to a number listed on the registry, unless the caller has an EBR with the consumer or their prior signed, written permission.
  
• Agents making telemarketing calls must subscribe to the do-not-call registry and scrub their calling list against the registry every 31 days. The FCC imposed a 31-day list review requirement in January 2005, in place of a three-month requirement.
  
• Agents making telemarketing calls must maintain their own internal do-not-call list. A person’s request not to be called again must be honored for five years. Even if you have an EBR with a consumer or his written permission, a later request to be put on an internal list means you can’t call him.

The FCC’s website has some good, general information; or you can access the do-not-call registry directly. But be sure to check with your company, which should have the most up-to-date do-not-call information for you.