Agent Procedures Manual

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• Protect the revenues of this state
• Protect consumers seeking insurance in this state
• Provide a source of advice and counsel for the benefit of consumers
• Promote and permit orderly access to surplus lines insurance in this state
• Permit surplus lines insurance to be placed with eligible surplus lines insurers
• Enhance the number and types of insurance products available to consumers in this state
• Provide a source of advice to government agencies concerning the operation of the surplus lines insurance market
• Provide a source of advice and counsel for the benefit of insurers and surplus lines agents in their compliance with the Florida Insurance Code

Each Florida licensed surplus lines agent is required by law to report information for insurance policies or documents with FSLSO as provided in the FSLSO Plan of Operation.

FSLSO maintains records of policy information reported and provides to each surplus lines agent a report of business submitted.

This manual is designed to assist agents in filing this information with FSLSO, as well as complying with the Florida Statutes.

Any individual licensed as a surplus lines agent under F.S. 626.927 and 626.9272 shall be deemed a member of the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office (FSLSO). Each newly licensed and appointed surplus lines agent must register through SLIP+ prior to submitting policy information pursuant to F.S. 626.921. Membership with FSLSO does not in any way affect an agent’s obligation to comply with the surplus lines law and other Florida insurance regulations.

the surplus lines agent must be a licensed and appointed general lines agent. It is very important to maintain both the qualifying license and an appointment, whether that be with an authorized insurer or self-appointed. Failure to adhere to these requirements could cause an agent’s surplus lines license or appointment to be cancelled.

Non-Residents: A requirement of maintaining a surplus lines license for a non-resident is to maintain a resident general lines and surplus lines license in the agent’s home state. Non-residents must also adhere to the qualifying license and appointment requirements for their Florida non-resident general lines and surplus lines license. Failure to maintain a resident general lines or surplus lines license along with any Florida non-resident general lines license and appointment(s) from an authorized insurer could cause the non-resident surplus lines license or appointment to be cancelled.

Per F.S. 626.929, a surplus lines agent may appoint both their general lines and surplus lines licenses with a single surplus lines license agent appointment pursuant to F.S. 624.501. Such agents may only originate surplus lines business and may not be appointed by or transact general lines insurance on behalf of an admitted insurer. If you wish to transact business in the admitted market, you must obtain an appointment for your general lines license with an admitted insurer.

Active Military or Veterans: Pre-licensure coursework is not required for an applicant who is a member or veteran of the United States Armed Forces or the spouse of such a member or veteran pursuant to F.S. 626.927(6).

1. Log in to their DFS MyProfile account and click on “Cancel License(s)” or to cancel an appointment, click on “Cancel Appointments”; or, 
2. Alternatively, you may send a letter to the Bureau of Licensing stating that you wish to surrender your license. Please include the following:

• Name
• Florida license ID number
• Mailing address
• Telephone number
• Enclose your Florida insurance license ID or statement indicating that you do not have the ID
• Signature of the licensee
• Copy of a government-issued photo identification

The letter can be emailed to DFS at AgentLicensing@MyFloridaCFO.com

F.S. 626.921(2) provides that “All surplus lines agents shall as a condition of holding a surplus lines license in this state, report to and file with the Service Office a copy of, or information on all surplus lines policies or documents as provided in section (7) (B) of the  Plan of Operation.”

There are three methods to report and file with FSLSO: SLIP+, CSV Batch, or XML Batch. FSLSO’s SLIP+ provides a web-based platform for Florida licensed surplus lines agents to electronically submit policy information to FSLSO. Additionally, SLIP+ provides users the ability to not only view previously submitted data but also to edit policy information, back out transaction data, generate reports, and pay invoices. For more information on SLIP+ view the SLIP+ Help Reference Guide located on the SLIP+ Help page in SLIP+. The Batch options, CSV and XML provide a mechanism for an agent to submit large volumes of transaction data from their internal management system seamlessly to FSLSO. For more information, visit the Batch page or contact Tech Support.

Data Submission: All premium bearing policy transactions placed with a surplus lines insurer, taxable or non-taxable, must be electronically submitted to FSLSO via SLIP+ or in the prescribed electronic format for Batch File Submissions within thirty (30) days from the effective date of the policy transaction.

Each submission to FSLSO shall contain the following information for each transaction:

• Surplus lines agent’s name and license number
• Surplus lines agent’s agency name and license number
• Name of the insured
• Policy number
• Named Insurer(s) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) number for the insurer(s) participating on the risks
• The zip code of the primary risk (must be a valid Florida zip code)
• Accounting contact
• County location of primary risk (must be a valid Florida county)
• Supplemental homeowner’s data for certain residential coverages
• Coverage code
• Transaction types, which include:

1 = new business
2 = additional premium
3 = return premium
4 = cancellation
5 = renewal
6 = reinstatement

• Effective date and expiration date (of the transaction)
• Policy expiration date
• Gross premium charged or returned (excluding service fees, taxes, and assessments)  

Please note that if Florida is deemed the home state of a multistate risk, the allocated premium for the other state’s (or states’) exposure must be filed. For a tax estimate of a multistate risk, please visit our Tax Estimator.

• Policy fee (this field should only list the surplus lines agent policy fee if one was charged)
• Tax Status, which includes: 

0 = taxable
1 = non-taxable commercial aviation
2 = non-taxable governmental, state, county or municipalities
3 = non-taxable wet marine (commercial ocean marine) and transportation risks (motor truck cargo)
4 = non-taxable entities exempt from tax and service fee
5 = non-taxable entities exempt from tax, service fee, and Emergency Management Preparedness and Assistance (EMPA) surcharge

Download Tax Status Codes

View our Accounting Guide

Billing Procedures: Service fees, taxes, assessments, and surcharges are invoiced quarterly on the first business day of January, April, July, and October.

Invoices: On the first business day of each quarter (January, April, July, and October), the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office invoices for taxes, fees, assessments, and surcharges based on submissions made during the previous quarter. Invoices will be made available in your SLIP+ Inbox, along with the corresponding billing report(s) after each billing cycle.

Payments: All payments must be received on or before the 45th day following the end of the quarter and shall include all amounts shown as due.

• 4th quarter invoices issued in January are due by February 14th
• 1st quarter invoices issued in April are due by May 15th
• 2nd quarter invoices issued in July are due by August 14th
• 3rd quarter invoices issued in October are due by November 14th

Electronic Payments: All service fees, taxes, assessments, and surcharges can be paid electronically via SLIP+. In SLIP+ choose Pay Invoices from the Invoices & Payments tab on the menu bar. Through this secured website, an agent can save their bank account information for future use as well as enter multiple bank accounts. FSLSO does not charge fees to make online payments via SLIP+. However, the agent’s bank may charge a fee for processing Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, so the agent will need to verify with their bank.

Please note that if the agent has fraud service on their bank account, they will need to provide their bank with the following ACH Company IDs prior to submitting payment(s):

Florida Surplus Lines Service Office
ACH Company ID: 1800749868
ACH Company Name: FLORIDASP

Our office collects on behalf of other entities. The ACH Company IDs for those entities are listed below:

Florida Division of Emergency Management
ACH Company ID: 2800749868
ACH Company Name: FLORIDASP

Florida Department of Financial Services
ACH Company ID: 1272818119
ACH Company Name: FLORIDASP

Check Payments: Service fees, taxes, and assessments are separate charges and must be paid with separate checks.

• Florida DFS taxes should be made payable to the Florida Department of Financial Services.
• FSLSO service fees should be made payable to the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office.
• Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) EMPA surcharges should be made payable to Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Please mail payments to:

FSLSO
P.O. Box 532301
Atlanta, GA 30353-2301

Overnight Address:

Conduent BMO Lockbox # 532301
100 Southcrest Drive
Stockbridge, GA 30281

Agents shall pay interest on any delinquent balances due at the rates listed below compounded annually, beginning the day the amount becomes delinquent. Agents who fail to pay taxes and fees required when due may be fined up to $500 per day for each day the failure continues until payment is received by FSLSO as provided for in F.S. 626.936.

• DFS Tax 9%
• Service Fee 9%
• EMPA Surcharge 9%

FSLSO’s policy is that service fee balances less than $10 are not considered delinquent. However, the balances may not remain outstanding for a period greater than one year.

Unpaid service fees due by a surplus lines agent shall be recoverable in a suit brought by DFS against the surplus lines agent. DFS may authorize FSLSO to file suit on its behalf.

Return of Taxes, Fees, and Assessments: If an agent receives a tax, fee, and/or assessment invoice with a credit balance, they can either let the credit roll forward and offset future like invoices or request a refund.

It is the surplus lines agent’s responsibility to complete the prescribed form when transferring business upon termination of employment with an agency or for any other reason.

Transfer of Business Instructions & Forms

Sections 624.307(10)(b) and (c), Florida Statutes, provides:

(b) any person licensed or issued a certificate of authority or made an eligible surplus lines insurer by the department or the office shall respond, in writing or electronically, to the Division of Consumer Services (division) within 14 days after receipt of a written request for documents and information from the division concerning a consumer complaint. The response must address the issues and allegations raised in the complaint and include any requested documents concerning the consumer complaint not subject to attorney-client or work-product privilege. The division may impose an administrative penalty for failure to comply with this paragraph of up to $5,000 per violation upon any entity licensed by the department or the office and up to $1,000 per violation by any individual licensed by the department or the office.

(c) Each insurer issued a certificate of authority or made an eligible surplus lines insurer shall file with the department an e-mail address to which requests for response to consumer complaints shall be directed pursuant to paragraph (b) above. Such insurer shall also designate a contact person for escalated complaint issues and shall provide the name, e-mail address, and telephone number of such person. A licensee of the department, including an agency or a firm, may elect to designate an e-mail address to which requests for response to consumer complaints shall be directed pursuant to paragraph (b) above. If a licensee, including an agency or a firm, elects not to designate an e-mail address, the department shall direct requests for a response to consumer complaints to the e-mail address of record for the licensee in the department’s licensing system. An insurer or a licensee, including an agency or a firm, may change the designated contact information at any time by submitting the new information to the department using the method designated by rule by the department.

Per F.S.626.914 (4) "Diligent effort" means seeking coverage from and having been rejected by at least three authorized insurers currently writing this type of coverage and documenting these rejections. However, if the residential structure has a dwelling replacement cost of $700,000 or more, the term means seeking coverage from and having been rejected by at least one authorized insurer currently writing this type of coverage and documenting this rejection.

Each surplus lines agent shall maintain, as part of each insured’s file, a copy of the producing agent’s documentation of  diligent effort. It is the responsibility of the surplus lines agent to verify that the producing agent has made a diligent effort to place the coverage with an authorized insurer. The agent’s reliance must be reasonable by taking into account factors such as a regularly conducted program to verify the diligent effort process meets the requirements set forth in F.S. 626.916.

Download Diligent Effort Form

These guidelines serve to assist in the proper completion of the Diligent Effort form. Diligent Effort forms are examined during your compliance review; therefore, we suggest you share this with the retail/producing agent from whom you are accepting business.

Per F.S. 626.916, no insurance coverage is eligible for export unless it meets certain conditions. Completing a diligent search and providing a properly documented Statement of Diligent Effort is one of those conditions.

• It is the responsibility of the retail/producing agent to conduct the diligent search and to complete and sign the Diligent Effort form.
• The surplus lines agent should obtain the form from the retail/producing agent and maintain it in their files.
• Declinations should be obtained from only insurance companies currently approved in Florida to write the type of coverage initially sought. For example, a personal lines quote should not be requested from a company writing only commercial risks to secure a declination.
• Only admitted insurance companies should be listed on the form, not wholesale brokerages.
• All the fields on the form should be completed and should be legible.
• The full name and contact information of the person providing the declination should be recorded on the form.
• In the event of an online declination, the surplus lines agent should request a copy of the online declination from the retail/producing agent.
• The specific reason for the declination should be provided in as much detail as possible.
• The date the declination is obtained should be on or before the effective date of the policy and recorded on the form.
• Declinations typically should not be obtained more than 60 days before the effective date of the coverage being sought.
• The retail/producing agent conducting the diligent search should sign and date the form when it is completed.
• The form should list three admitted insurance companies unless the residential structure has a replacement cost of $700,000 or more, in which case you are only required to have one declination from an admitted insurance company.

Surplus lines agents must verify that a diligent effort has been made by requiring a properly documented statement of diligent effort from the retail or producing agent. However, to comply with the diligent effort requirement, the surplus lines agent’s reliance must be reasonable under the particular circumstances surrounding the export of that specific risk. Reasonableness shall be assessed by considering factors including, but not limited to, a regularly conducted program of verification of the information provided by the retail or producing agent. Declinations must be documented on a risk-by-risk basis.

Certain lines of coverage are exempt from the diligent effort search requirement. Agents are not required to complete a Diligent Effort form prior to the exportation of the risk for the following commercial lines coverages:

• Excess or Umbrella
• Surety and Fidelity
• Boiler and Machinery and Leakage and Fire Extinguishing Equipment
• Errors and Omissions
• Directors and Officers, Employment Practices, Fiduciary Liability and Management Liability
  Intellectual Property and Patent Infringement Liability
• Advertising Injury and Internet Liability Insurance
• Property risks rated under a highly protected risks rating plan
• General Liability
• Nonresidential Property (except for collateral protection insurance as defined in F.S. 624.6085)
• Nonresidential Multiperil
• Excess Property
• Burglary and Theft
• Medical Malpractice for a facility that is not a hospital licensed under Chapter 395, a nursing home licensed under Part II of Chapter 400, or an assisted living facility licensed under Part I of Chapter 429
• Medical Malpractice for a health care practitioner who is not a dentist licensed under Chapter 466, a physician licensed under Chapter 458, an osteopathic physician licensed under Chapter 459, a chiropractic physician licensed under Chapter 460, a podiatric physician licensed under Chapter 461, a pharmacist licensed under Chapter 465, or a pharmacy technician registered under Chapter 465
• Effective July 1, 2016, travel insurance, if issued as a master group policy with a situs in another state where each certificate holder pays less than $30 in premium for each covered trip and where the insurer has written less than $1 million in annual written premiums in the travel insurance product in this state during the most recent calendar year
• Effective July 1, 2021, Deductible Buyback-Property, a code for coverage that provides for the indemnification of deductibles incurred due to a covered property loss
• Effective July 1, 2021, Personal Lines Flood and Excess Personal Lines Flood no longer require a diligent effort search. Refer to our  Flood Matrix for more information

Commercial wet marine, transportation, and aviation risks written in accordance with F.S. 626.917 are also exempt from the diligent effort requirements. This does not apply to boats or aircraft used solely for personal pleasure, family use, or the transportation of executives, employees, and guests of the insured.

Many lines of coverage remain subject to the diligent effort requirement and include, but are not limited to, residential property, residential multiperil, and commercial residential. Refer to our Diligent Effort/Disclosure Matrix for a concise view of the coverage categories.

Download Surplus Lines Disclosure Form

Effective January 1, 2022, pursuant to F.S. 626.916 (1)(e), no coverage shall be eligible for export unless the insured has signed or otherwise provided documented acknowledgment of a disclosure in substantially the following form:

You are agreeing to place coverage in the surplus lines market. Coverage may be available in the admitted market. Persons insured by surplus lines carriers are not protected under the Florida Insurance Guaranty Act with respect to any right of recovery for the obligation of an insolvent unlicensed insurer.

This requirement does not apply to wet marine, transportation or aviation risks that are subject to F.S. 626.917.

We provide a disclosure form that must be signed by the insured to satisfy this statutory requirement. It is the responsibility of the retail/producing agent to secure and maintain the completed disclosure form.

It is imperative that surplus lines business only be placed with companies eligible to do business in Florida. Below are links to Florida Eligible, Federally Authorized and NAIC International Insurers Department (IID) companies.

Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) lists:

• Surplus Lines Company Directory
• Surplus Lines Company Directory - Federally Authorized
• Surplus Lines Company Directory - Aviation/Wet Marine
• Surplus Lines Definitions

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) list:

Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers (IID list)

Per F.S. 626.922 and 626.924, there is certain information required to be placed on a surplus lines contract. FSLSO provides a Sample Face Page containing this required information.

Download Sample Face Page

The Florida OIR directed FSLSO, by order, to discontinue remitting and reporting related information applicable to transactions submitted to, or received by, the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office after March 31, 2020. The Citizens assessment will not be charged or refunded after March 31, 2020.

View CPIC Applicable Coverages

The Florida OIR directed FSLSO, by order, to discontinue remitting and reporting related information applicable to transactions submitted to, or received by, the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office after March 31, 2019. The FHCF assessment will not be charged or refunded after March 31, 2019.

View FHCF Applicable Coverages

The  Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA) of 2010 was enacted as part of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bill included language to standardize the reporting, allocation and payment of non-admitted insurance premium tax on multistate risks.

The NRRA grants the insured’s home state exclusive authority to regulate and tax surplus lines insurance that includes multi-jurisdictional boundaries. Additionally, the NRRA recognized the Exempt Commercial Purchaser and provided a nationwide standard for the automatic export of risks for these qualified insureds. Lastly, the NRRA established uniform standards for surplus lines eligibility regarding insurers both domiciled inside and outside of the United States.

View more information on the NRRA