Washington telemarketing & SMS rules for insurance agents

Washington prohibits telephone solicitation calls that are received before 8:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. in the recipient’s local time — an hour tighter than the federal 9:00 p.m. cutoff. Licensed insurance producers are excluded from the separate commercial-solicitor registration requirement, but that exclusion is written into the registration chapter, not into the curfew.

Washington regulates telephone solicitation under the Telephone Solicitation (RCW 80.36.390) and the Commercial Telephone Solicitation Act (RCW ch. 19.158) (RCW 80.36.390; RCW ch. 19.158), 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 2026-09-14.

What time can I call in Washington?

RCW 80.36.390(8): “A telephone solicitor shall not place calls to any person which will be received before 8:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. at the call recipient’s local time.” The same window appears in RCW ch. 19.158. An 8:30 p.m. call that is lawful under the federal rule is not lawful in Washington. No separate Sunday or holiday rule was found in RCW 80.36.390.

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

For voice calls, no prior-express-consent requirement was found in RCW 80.36.390. Commercial text messages need advance consent: RCW 19.190.060(1) bars sending "an electronic commercial text message to a telephone number assigned to a Washington resident for cellular telephone or pager service," and RCW 19.190.070(1)(b) excepts messages where "the subscriber has clearly and affirmatively consented in advance to receive these text messages."

Does Washington treat texting differently from calling?

Yes. Commercial texts to Washington cell numbers are governed by RCW ch. 19.190 and need the subscriber’s clear, affirmative advance consent (RCW 19.190.060, .070(1)(b)). A violation is a Consumer Protection Act violation (RCW 19.190.060(2)), and recipient damages are "$100, or actual damages, whichever is greater" (RCW 19.190.040(1), as amended in 2026). No insurance-agent exemption appears in ch. 19.190.

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

No separate state list was found. RCW 80.36.390(9) prohibits solicitation calls to numbers on "the do not call registry maintained by the federal government," and a search of ch. 19.158 found no state list. Under RCW 80.36.390(7)(c), a solicitor told to stop may not call that person again for at least one year.

Do I need to register to solicit in Washington?

Yes. A commercial telephone solicitor must register with the Department of Licensing before doing business in the state (RCW 19.158.050, 19.158.150).

Are licensed insurance agents exempt in Washington?

For registration only. RCW 19.158.020 excludes from “commercial telephone solicitor” a person licensed under ch. 48.17 RCW — the insurance producer licensing chapter — when the solicited transaction is governed by that law. That exclusion sits in the ch. 19.158 definition; RCW 80.36.390(8) applies to any “telephone solicitor”, and no insurance exemption appears in RCW 80.36.390. RCW 80.36.390(2)(a) names insurance agents expressly: “each individual real estate agent or insurance agent who maintains a separate list from other individual real estate or insurance agents shall be treated as a company or organization”. Confirm with counsel before treating a licensed producer as outside the curfew.

What are the penalties in Washington?

RCW 80.36.390(11) provides fines of up to $1,000 per violation. A person who is repeatedly called in violation may sue, and the court "shall award damages of at least $1,000" per violation plus fees (RCW 80.36.390(13)).

Controlling statute

Telephone Solicitation (RCW 80.36.390) and the Commercial Telephone Solicitation Act (RCW ch. 19.158) — RCW 80.36.390; RCW ch. 19.158

Sources

• RCW 80.36.390 — Telephone solicitation—Penaltyprimary source
• RCW ch. 19.158 — Commercial Telephone Solicitation Actprimary source
• RCW ch. 19.190 — Commercial Electronic Mail Act (text messages)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.