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Bulletins & News This is the SLAfor a copy of the brochure click here. INTRODUCTION The Surplus Line Association of California (SLA) is a private, non-profit association of 2000-plus surplus line brokers who are licensed by the State of California to negotiate and place insurance with nonadmitted insurers. A non-admitted insurer is an insurance company which is licensed in its state or country of domicile but not in California. The SLA operates as a self-governed private organization, in which the governing body - the Executive Committee - is elected by the membership at the Association's annual meeting. The Association operates under the direction of the Executive Committee and four other committees appointed by the Executive Committee. These committees include the Stamping & Contact, Education, Automation, Legislative, and Admitted Market Liasion Committees. Many of the SLA's activities are directly supervised by the California Department of Insurance (CDI). The SLA is appointed as the statutory surplus line advisory organization to the CDI and facilitates the state's capacity to monitor and regulate the transfer of risk on a sound basis through licensed surplus line brokers to nonadmitted insurers. As the advisory organization, the SLA performs several duties delegated by California's elected Insurance Commissioner. This joint arrangement authorizes the Commissioner to utilize the expertise and knowledge of the SLA in carrying out the surplus line laws and regulations of California. The SLA, in turn, has the responsibility to perform these duties under the guidance of a plan of operation prepared by the SLA and subject to the CDI's approval. WHY SURPLUS LINES California consumers have insurance needs which may not always be met through the admitted (i.e. licensed) insurance market. For this reason, many insurance consumers need access to insurance underwritten by nonadmitted insurers. Together, the SLA and the CDI help ensure that insurance consumers have access to financially sound and reputable nonadmitted insurers that have been approved by the Commissioner. THE STAMPING OFFICE In California, all surplus line placements must be filed with the SLA for review. The purpose of this function is to check the required surplus line filings for completeness, accuracy, and other matters the SLA may be directed to review by the Commissioner. The SLA notifies surplus line brokers of any filings that are determined to be incomplete or inaccurate and requests the broker to correct the problem. After verifying the accuracy and completeness of the filings, the SLA keeps the information on file by broker for a period specified by the Commissioner. Records of the filings maintained by the SLA are the property of CDI. The SLA collects premium data for statistical purposes as well. The SLA is funded by charging a stamping fee for each filed surplus line policy or other premium bearing document. The stamping fee cannot exceed three-fourths of 1 percent of the premium without the Commissioner's approval and must reflect all reasonable costs associated with the services provided by the SLA. On another front, the SLA also assists the CDI in evaluating and determining whether nonadmitted insurers meet the eligibility requirements to operate as surplus line carriers for California business. Companies who have met California's standards of eligibility are added to the List of Eligible Surplus Line Insurers (LESLI). With limited exceptions, California surplus line brokers are required to place surplus line business only with those insurers on the LESLI. THE IMMUNITY CLAUSE California law provides that there is no liability on the part of , and no cause of action of any nature against, the Association, its Members, officers, committee members, agents or employees for any action taken or omitted by any of them in the performance of their duties or the exercise of their authority delegated by the Insurance commissioner, unless such party has acted in bad faith. OTHER DUTIES AS AN ADVISORY ORGANIZATION The duties of the SLA as an advisory organization include, among others, the following:
SUMMARY In summary, the SLA's main goal is to continue working with it's members and CDI to help maintain a healthy, fair and competitive surplus line marketplace in California, as well as protect the interests of California consumers. The Surplus Line Association of California |
