Partner Agreement

Last updated: October 22, 2026 · Version 2026-10-22.2

This Partner Agreement is between you and The Dark Horse Group, Inc., a California corporation ("we," "us"), and adds to our Terms of Use (version 2026-10-22.2). If the two conflict about the partner program, this agreement controls.

1. Accepting this agreement

  • You accept this agreement electronically when you submit the partner application with the agreement box checked. We record your name, agency, email, the date and time, and this version, and we keep that record. If you apply for an agency or other business, you confirm you can accept this agreement for it.
  • The agreement takes effect when we approve your application. Approval isn't automatic.

2. What the program is

The partner program pays you a software referral fee when agents you refer subscribe to RIO. The fee is based only on RIO subscription payments we actually collect. It is not an insurance commission or rebate, and it has nothing to do with insurance sales, premiums, carrier placement or referrals of clients or beneficiaries. You aren't our employee, agent or partner in a legal sense, and you can promote other products too. You can't sign contracts for us, change our prices, collect subscription payments, or make promises on our behalf.

3. Your link and referral credit

  • We give you a personal sign-up link. An agent is credited to you when they create their RIO account through your link or enter your partner code at sign-up.
  • Credit added later. If an agent you brought to RIO signs up without your link or code, tell us. If no other partner is credited for that agent, we may add the credit to you. It's our decision, and it applies only from the day we add it: you earn on that agent's payments that settle after that day, and nothing on payments made before it. If the agent had already made their first payment, you earn $5 on each later payment, not the $10 first-payment amount. We don't refund or credit the agent for the difference in price.
  • An agent is credited to one partner only: the one used when the account was created, or the one we added later as described above. We never move credit from one partner to another. An agent whose account lapses and later resumes under the same account stays credited to you. A brand-new account counts under whichever link it used.
  • Agents who use your link get $10 off their first 60 days.
  • You can't credit yourself. Accounts you open or control in another name to credit yourself don't qualify. Your agency can pay for its agents' accounts, and those still qualify.

4. What you earn

  • You earn $10 when an agent's first payment settles, if the agent was credited to you before that payment. That payment covers their first 60 days. You then earn $5 for each later monthly payment from that agent that settles.
  • Earnings you've already earned stay earned if the agent later cancels, even if the agent keeps prepaid access. Nothing is owed for a payment that failed, was refunded or was disputed (see section 6).
  • You get your own RIO seat at no charge while at least one agent on your link has a paid, active subscription. If you already pay for a RIO subscription when you qualify, it continues until you cancel it, and we don't credit or refund payments made before you qualified.
  • If no agent on your link is paying, your free seat ends and your access pauses. We won't charge you for a subscription you haven't signed up for. To keep using RIO, you can subscribe at the regular price.

5. Payment

  • We pay monthly by direct deposit (ACH), by the 15th of the month, for settled payments from the prior month.
  • We pay once your unpaid balance reaches $25. Smaller balances carry forward. The minimum doesn't apply to your final payment (section 9). If your balance stays under $25 for 12 months, we'll email you and pay it out once you give us your payout details.
  • Before your first payment, we need a completed IRS Form W-9 and your payout details. We can hold payment until we have them.
  • You're responsible for your own taxes. We'll report payments as the law requires. Each payment comes with a statement showing the agents and months it covers. If you think an agent was credited wrongly, email us within 60 days and we'll look into it.

6. Refunds, chargebacks and fraud

  • Holds. If a specific payment is disputed, or we reasonably suspect fraud, we can hold the earnings tied to it while we look into it. We'll email you the amount and the reason and give you a chance to respond. If the payment stands, we release the held earnings in your next payment.
  • Reversals. If an agent's payment is refunded or charged back, the earnings for it are canceled (reduced in proportion for a partial refund). If we've already paid them, we can subtract that amount from your future payments, including your final payment. If you still owe us after the agreement ends, we can ask you to repay it. Earnings tied to fake, duplicate or self-referred sign-ups are also canceled.
  • Other violations. If you break this agreement or our Terms in a way that doesn't involve a specific payment, we can suspend or remove you (section 9). That alone doesn't cancel earnings you validly earned before then.

7. How you can promote RIO

  • Disclose your payment. Whenever you recommend RIO, make clear that you earn money if people subscribe through your link, and that you get a free RIO seat. Put the disclosure clearly and close to the recommendation or link. For example: "I earn a referral fee and a free RIO seat if you subscribe through my link."
  • Don't make earnings or results claims. Don't promise or suggest any sales, close rate, income or commission. Don't promise that RIO will make an agent successful, or describe the program as ongoing or passive income.
  • Don't say RIO is approved or endorsed by any insurance carrier, regulator, IMO or agency, or that it guarantees compliance. RIO is an independent conversation aid.
  • Use only what RIO has said about the product. We can give you approved wording on request. You can use our name and logo only to refer to RIO and the program, and only as we allow. That permission can be withdrawn at any time and ends when this agreement ends. Don't offer cash, gifts or pressure to agents to subscribe, and don't send unwanted messages or spam.
  • Follow the law and the rules of any platform where you post. You're responsible for what you and your team say about RIO. We may review how you promote RIO.
  • If we ask you to change or remove something you've posted, do it within 2 business days. For a misleading or prohibited claim, do it within 24 hours. We can suspend you right away for a serious misleading claim.

8. Your own rules

You must follow your carrier, IMO and agency contracts and any rules about what agents may buy or recommend. If you manage agents, don't require them to buy RIO. If a rule or contract doesn't allow you to receive these payments, don't join the program.

9. Ending the program

  • You can leave at any time by emailing [email protected].
  • We can change or end the program, or remove you, with 30 days' notice by email. We can remove you right away for a serious violation of this agreement or our Terms.
  • Earnings stop on the date the agreement ends. We'll pay everything you earned before then, even if it's under $25, within 45 days after it ends. We need your W-9 and payout details first, and we can subtract amounts held or owed under section 6. Referred agents keep their accounts, but they're no longer credited to you.

10. Privacy

You can see how many agents joined through your link and how many have active subscriptions. You can't see their license details, payment details or any other personal information. Don't try to find it.

11. Other terms

This agreement is governed by California law. Sections 12 to 15 of the Terms (including liability and disputes) apply to it. We can update this agreement, or change the amounts we pay, with 30 days' notice by email. A change applies only to payments that settle after the change takes effect. It never reduces what you've already earned. If you don't agree to a change, you can leave before it takes effect. If you keep participating after that, you accept it.

Contact

The Dark Horse Group, Inc., La Mesa, California
Email: [email protected]