Insurtech Briefly Podcast: Surplus Lines Market
Pennsylvania recently enacted two new insurance laws that significantly expand the permissible kinds of value-added products and services that may be provided by insurance licensees in general and the fees that may be charged...more
On February 29, 2024, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Lexington Insurance Co. v. Smith (Suquamish Tribe). The Court affirmed the tribal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction over Lexington pursuant to the Tribe’s...more
The excess and surplus lines insurance market is a rapidly-growing avenue for the placement of insurance policies in the United States. Many alien (non-U.S.) insurance carriers write surplus lines insurance coverage via...more
The Texas Department Insurance (“TDI”) Commissioner Cassie Brown issued an order decreasing the surplus lines stamping fee from .075% to .04% of gross premium resulting from surplus lines insurance contracts. The decrease...more
On October 19, 2022, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Surplus Lines Working Group exposed proposed changes to the International Insurers Department (IID) Plan of Operation applicable to insurers...more
On October, 17, 2022, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Surplus Lines Task Force held an interim meeting to discuss, among other agenda items, the draft changes to the Nonadmitted Insurance Model Act...more
Florida lawmakers have recently introduced SB 1402 that could open up additional avenues for the placement of surplus lines business in the state. On January 18, 2022, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed SB...more
In this episode of the Insurtech Briefly podcast, Robert Tomilson and Scott Galla explore the advantages and constraints on insurtechs using surplus lines as an entrance to the insurance market. ...more
On May 21, 2021, the Illinois legislature passed SB 1753, which eliminates the surplus lines producers’ diligent search effort with respect to commercial risks when those risks are referred to the surplus lines producer by an...more
On April 9, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Co. need not provide coverage for Alorica Inc.’s loss from a 2018 phishing attack because the letter...more
The Excess Line Association of New York (“ELANY”) delivered its April 2021 issue of the “E&S Empire Express,” a publication designed to provide an overview of ELANY’s recent activities, including employment changes,...more
On April 14, 2021, the Maine’s Bureau of Insurance issued Bulletin 457 to explain the general conditions and requirements for surplus lines placements, and to reaffirm to producers their obligations and responsibilities under...more
We are happy to provide the 2021 edition of our Excess and Surplus Lines Law Manual. This edition reflects all of the pertinent changes in the surplus lines laws and regulations of the 50 states and U.S. territories during...more
On February 26, 2021, a bill was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly that among other changes would eliminate the diligent effort requirement for commercial business sourced by a surplus lines producer through a...more
Increasingly, the world of insurance distribution has become highly specialized, utilizing technology and a multitude of parties to reach customers worldwide. The surplus lines industry is no exception. Surplus lines brokers...more
On February 8, 2021, the Excess Line Association of New York (“ELANY”) issued Bulletin No. 2021-05 reminding surplus line insurers and brokers about some often overlooked compliance requirements. Among the topics was the...more
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that Johnson & Johnson is required to pay an insurance premium tax (IPT) based only on its premiums for risks located within the state of New Jersey rather than nationwide,...more
Automobile insurance looks very different today than it did a generation ago. The means by which people (and goods) travel via motor vehicles continue to expand and evolve, as do businesses and their automobile insurance...more
On November 18, 2020, the Surplus Lines Task Force held a virtual meeting in lieu of its meeting at the 2020 NAIC Fall National Meeting. The Task Force discussed the proposed modernization of the NAIC Nonadmitted Insurance...more
Multiple developments occurred in the last few weeks throughout the United States relaxing diligent search standards in the surplus lines marketplace. On September 21, 2020, The U.S. Virgin Islands (“USVI”) promulgated...more
At the August 5, 2020, NAIC Summer National Meeting, the NAIC Surplus Lines Task Force again tabled its new Blanks proposal regarding home state direct premium written....more
On July 10, 2020, Lloyd’s of London (“Lloyd’s”) issued Market Bulletin Ref: Y5299 (the “Bulletin”) announcing that it will seek to relinquish its admitted licenses in Kentucky, Illinois and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The...more
Kent C. Sullivan, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) issued Order No. 2020-6384 on July 3, 2020, approving an amended Plan of Operation of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT)....more
On June 16, 2020, the Excess Line Association of New York (“ELANY”) issued Bulletin No. 2020-35, promulgating ELANY’s new issue of “ELANY Elaborates” (the “EE”). This issue of EE (available here) focuses primarily on the...more
COVID-19 is impacting all facets of the insurance industry, and while the surplus lines market is somewhat inoculated from the impact of various state orders and emergency regulations, many states as well as the National...more