California telemarketing & SMS rules for insurance agents

California sets no calling hours for live telemarketing calls in its do-not-call law (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17590–17594), so the federal 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. window at the called party’s location applies (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1)); for automatic dialing-announcing devices, California bars calls received in the state between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. California time (Pub. Util. Code § 2872(c)). California’s do-not-call rule expressly reaches calls that "Seek to sell or promote any investment, insurance, or financial services" to numbers on the national registry (Bus. & Prof. Code § 17592(c)(4)), treats a licensed agent or broker as a telephone solicitor, and has no insurance-agent exemption; Insurance Code licensees are exempt only from telephonic-seller registration and bonding when the solicited transaction is governed by the Insurance Code (§ 17511.1(e)(4)).

California regulates telephone solicitation under the California Unsolicited and Unwanted Telephone Solicitations law (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17590–17594), Telephonic Sellers law (§§ 17511–17514), and Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices law (Pub. Util. Code §§ 2871–2876) (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17511.1, 17511.3, 17511.12, 17538.41, 17590–17594; Cal. Pub. Util. Code §§ 2871–2876; Cal. Civ. Code § 1770(a)(22)), which layers requirements on top of the federal TCPA. Federal law is a floor, not a ceiling: where the two differ, the stricter rule governs.

Last reviewed 2026-09-15.

What time can I call in California?

Live calls: no California time-of-day rule in Business and Professions Code §§ 17590–17594, so the federal window applies — no telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber "before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)" (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1); see also 16 C.F.R. § 310.4(c)). Automatic dialing-announcing devices: Public Utilities Code § 2872(c) provides that "A person shall not operate an automatic dialing-announcing device in this state to place a call that is received by a telephone in this state during the hours between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. California time." An automatic dialing-announcing device is equipment that stores or randomly or sequentially generates numbers and can disseminate a prerecorded message to the number called (§ 2871). Article 1 does not apply to a device that is not used to randomly or sequentially dial numbers and is used solely to transmit a message to a person with an established relationship with the user, or to any call generated at the recipient’s request (§ 2872(f)).

What consent does California require before the first call or text?

For numbers on the do-not-call list, the main exception is a signed written agreement. Section 17592(e)(1) exempts calls made under the subscriber’s express written agreement, which must clearly authorize calls by or on behalf of a specific party to that number and include the subscriber’s signature; the telephone solicitor must prove it by producing the signed original or a facsimile, or an advertisement by the subscriber, and "Express agreement" does not include consent in a contract of adhesion. Other exceptions include calls at the subscriber’s express request — presumed not to be at the subscriber’s request if made 30 business days after the subscriber last inquired about a purchase or last consented to be contacted, or after the subscriber asked that no further calls be made (§ 17592(e)(2)) — and calls to a subscriber with an established business relationship, meaning a purchase, rental, lease or financial transaction within the preceding 18 months (§ 17592(e)(4)). Automatic dialing-announcing devices may be used only under a prior agreement in which the person called consents to receive such calls, or as specified in § 2874 (Pub. Util. Code § 2873), which requires an unrecorded, natural voice announcement first that states the nature of the call and the caller’s name, address and telephone number, asks whether the person consents to hear the prerecorded message, and says whether the message uses an artificial voice (§ 2874(a)).

Does California treat texting differently from calling?

Yes. Business and Professions Code § 17538.41(a)(1) says no person or entity conducting business in California "shall transmit, or cause to be transmitted, a text message advertisement to a mobile telephony services handset, pager, or two-way messaging device" with text capability, and it applies when the advertisement is sent to a number assigned to a California resident (§ 17538.41(a)(2)). A text message advertisement is a message whose principal purpose is to promote the sale of goods or services. The section does not apply to texts from a business with an existing relationship with the subscriber if the subscriber is offered an option not to receive them, or from an affiliate of that business if the subscriber has consented to receive texts from its affiliates (§ 17538.41(c), (d)). No insurance exemption appears in § 17538.41.

Does California have its own do-not-call list?

No separate state-run list. California’s "do not call" list means "the California telephone numbers on the national 'do not call' registry" maintained by the Federal Trade Commission, and a list is current only if obtained from the FTC no more than three months before the call (Bus. & Prof. Code § 17592(a)(2)). A telephone solicitor may not call a number on the current list to offer goods, services or credit, seek marketing information, or "Seek to sell or promote any investment, insurance, or financial services" (§ 17592(c)). If a subscriber tells a solicitor to place the subscriber on its own list under the federal rules, that instruction binds the entity with the established business relationship and every entity sharing its brand name (§ 17592(e)(4)). Section 17592(e)(5) exempts calls by an individual businessperson or small business with no more than five full- or part-time employees or independent contractors, when the individual or a principal personally makes the calls to sell the business’s own goods or services to subscribers within a 50-mile radius; independent contractors and employees the business must have a written agreement with under a regulatory scheme are not counted.

Do I need to register to solicit in California?

Yes, for "telephonic sellers" — a narrower group than all telemarketers. The telephonic-seller article covers solicitations that meet the criteria in § 17511.1(a)–(d), such as offers of free additional items or prizes, below-regular-price claims, investment opportunities and loan offers. Not less than 10 days before doing business in California, a telephonic seller must register with the Department of Justice and pay a $50 filing fee; registration lasts one year and is renewed annually for $50 (§ 17511.3(a)–(b)). Every telephonic seller must maintain a $100,000 surety bond in favor of the State of California (§ 17511.12(a)). A person licensed or certificated under Part 2 of Division 1 of the Insurance Code, including a person licensed under Chapter 5 of that Part, is not a telephonic seller "when the solicited transaction is governed by that law" (§ 17511.1(e)(4)); nor is an insurer subject to supervision by a state or federal official or agency (§ 17511.1(e)(10)). Compliance with the article does not satisfy other license or registration requirements (§ 17511.1(g)).

Are licensed insurance agents exempt in California?

No, for the do-not-call law; yes, for telephonic-seller registration. Section 17592 defines a telephone solicitor to include a person who makes a call that "Seeks to sell or promote any investment, insurance, or financial services" (§ 17592(a)(1)(D)) and bars those calls to numbers on the do-not-call list (§ 17592(c)(4)); none of the exceptions in § 17592(e) names insurance agents. When a subscriber buys through a licensed agent or broker, an established business relationship is created with the licensed agent or broker individually, "and the licensed agent or broker is a telephone solicitor, as defined in subdivision (a)" (§ 17592(e)(4)). The small-business exception in § 17592(e)(5) is available on its own terms. Section 17511.1(e)(4) removes Insurance Code licensees from the telephonic-seller registration and $100,000 bond requirements only when the solicited transaction is governed by the Insurance Code. Public Utilities Code §§ 2871–2876 and Business and Professions Code § 17538.41 contain no insurance exemption.

What are the penalties in California?

Do-not-call law: the Attorney General, a district attorney or a city attorney may sue for an injunction, a civil penalty of up to the amount the FTC may seek under 15 U.S.C. § 45(m)(1)(A) as specified in 16 C.F.R. § 1.98, and other relief (§ 17593(a)). A person who received a solicitation prohibited by § 17592 may sue in small claims court for an injunction; a person who receives further solicitations violating a properly served injunction within 30 days after service may seek enforcement and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 (§ 17593(b)). It is an affirmative defense that the violation was accidental and in violation of the solicitor’s policies, procedures, instruction and training (§ 17593(d)). Telephonic sellers: a willful violation of the article is punishable on conviction by a fine of up to $10,000 per unlawful transaction, imprisonment, or both (§ 17511.9). Automatic dialing-announcing devices: a fine of up to $500 per violation levied by the Public Utilities Commission and/or disconnection of telephone service to the device (Pub. Util. Code § 2876). In a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to a consumer, disseminating an unsolicited prerecorded message by telephone without first having an unrecorded, natural voice identify the caller and obtain consent to listen is an unlawful practice under the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (Civ. Code § 1770(a)(22)(A)), and a consumer who suffers damage from it may sue for actual damages, an injunction, restitution, punitive damages and other relief (Civ. Code § 1780(a)).

Controlling statute

California Unsolicited and Unwanted Telephone Solicitations law (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17590–17594), Telephonic Sellers law (§§ 17511–17514), and Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices law (Pub. Util. Code §§ 2871–2876) — Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17511.1, 17511.3, 17511.12, 17538.41, 17590–17594; Cal. Pub. Util. Code §§ 2871–2876; Cal. Civ. Code § 1770(a)(22)

Other things that change the answer

Public Utilities Code § 2874 was amended effective January 1, 2025 (Stats. 2024, ch. 316, AB 2905) to require the natural-voice announcement to say if the prerecorded message uses an artificial voice, defined as a voice generated or significantly altered using artificial intelligence (§ 2874(a)(3), (c)(2)). It is unlawful to use the do-not-call list for any purpose other than complying with the article or federal law, or for a telephone solicitor to persuade a customer with an established business relationship to join the list where that has the effect of preventing competitors from contacting the solicitor’s customers (§ 17591). A telephone solicitor may write by mail to a subscriber on the do-not-call list to obtain express written permission to call, and the request must disclose the sender, the number to be called, the subscriber’s signature, and notice that the subscriber may be called even though the number is on the federal registry (§ 17592(f)).

Sources

• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17590 — Legislative findingsprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17591 — Unlawful uses of the do-not-call listprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17592 — Do-not-call list; telephone solicitorsprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17593 — Enforcementprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17511.1 — Telephonic seller; exemptionsprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17511.3 — Registrationprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17511.9 — Penaltiesprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17511.12 — Bondprimary source
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17538.41 — Text message advertisementsprimary source
• Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2871 — Automatic dialing-announcing device definedprimary source
• Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2872 — ADAD calling hours and exemptionsprimary source
• Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2873 — Prior agreementprimary source
• Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2874 — Natural voice announcementprimary source
• Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 2876 — Penaltiesprimary source
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1770 — Consumers Legal Remedies Act prohibited practicesprimary source
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1780 — Consumers Legal Remedies Act remediesprimary source
• 47 CFR 64.1200 — Delivery restrictions (eCFR)primary source
• 16 CFR 310.4 — Abusive telemarketing acts or practices (eCFR)primary source

How APEX enforces these rules on every send

APEX evaluates each outbound message and call before it leaves the platform. Quiet hours are applied in the contact's local time rather than the agent's, DNC scrubbing runs against federal, state, internal, and litigator lists, and every allow-or-block decision is written to an immutable audit log. See security & compliance for the full guardrail set.

Configuring a platform correctly does not by itself make a campaign lawful. You remain responsible for your consent records and your calling practices.