Surplus lines filing compliance, placement by placement and state by state, with six agents doing the checking
Every placement filed with the right state tax and fee, before the deadline.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Software that checks each excess and surplus lines placement before it is filed with the insured's home state: the diligent search, the affidavit and disclosure, the premium tax and stamping fee, and the filing in the state's format before its deadline. Surplus Lines Filing Compliance gives every placement a per-state stamping checklist that agents fill in and a licensed filer signs.
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Every E&S placement has to be filed with the insured's home state: proof that admitted insurers declined the risk, a signed diligent search affidavit, the state's premium tax and stamping fee, and a filing in that state's format before its deadline. A wholesale broker filing in 31 states works to 31 different sets of rules — three declinations in California, a 60-day window in Texas, 30 days from the transaction effective date in Florida.
The tax is the easy part. What goes wrong is the declination nobody read: a letter from an insurer that does not write the line, or one dated after the risk was bound because it was written afterwards to fill the file. Filers copy figures from the agency system into each state's portal and chase retail agents one email at a time — and an error surfaces as a returned filing, an audit question or a fine long after the policy went out.
Estimated split for one placement, by hand and with the solution; with the solution, most of the time left is the filer's own review.
Six specialist agents read the binder, every declination and the state's rules; a licensed filer decides and signs.
Marisol Cold Storage, Inc. of Fresno runs three ammonia-refrigerated food warehouses. Its commercial property policy with Harrowgate Specialty Insurance Company was bound on 18 September. Here is how it gets filed, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Larchmont & Pike Wholesale has 214 placements open for filing in 31 states. Nadia's list shows the 16 with a box open — 6 failed, 9 open, 1 waiting for a decision — and says the other 198 are fully checked and filing on schedule. Each row is a strip of tiny checkboxes and the days left.
“16 with a box open · 198 more fully checked and filing on schedule”
Policy HSI-CP-2610482: bound 18 Sep 2026, effective 1 Oct, premium $248,600 plus a $350 inspection fee. Marisol's principal place of business is Fresno, so the home state is California — even though the Reno warehouse holds 21.7% of the value. Under the federal home-state rule only California may tax the policy; Nevada collects nothing.
Taxable premium $248,950.00 · premium tax 3.00% $7,468.50 · stamping fee 0.18% $448.11 · collect and remit $7,916.61
California wants three declinations from admitted insurers that write the line, dated before binding. Alder Creek Mutual Fire (NAIC 23817, email 9 Sep) and Tamarack Valley Indemnity (NAIC 31452, email 11 Sep) pass. Coastal Sequoia's letter is dated 24 Sep — six days after binding. On the search timeline its dot sits to the right of the binding line, and its box fails.
“A declination must come before the risk is bound; on its own this letter does not show the admitted market was searched first.”
The checker does not stop at the failure. It searches the 23-message thread for the placement and finds the Coastal Sequoia underwriter's original email to the producer, sent 15 Sep at 10:42 — three days before binding.
“Gabe — we'll pass on Marisol. The 2024 ammonia release at Stockton puts it outside our guidelines.” — Harold Brenner, Coastal Sequoia
The agent offers the email; it cannot accept it. Nadia reads it and accepts it. The SL-2 already lists Coastal Sequoia with September 2026 as the month of declination, so the form stays as signed, and the 24 Sep letter is kept beside it as a confirmation — never edited.
Ruth Abernathy, compliance manager: “If an auditor asks when the search happened, I want the email, not a letter written afterwards.”
Binder, home state, carrier eligibility, three declinations, the SL-2 signed by Gabe Montoya on 16 Sep, the D-1 non-admitted disclosure signed on 17 Sep, premium tax and stamping fee — each ticked, each linked to its source. The stamp box at the foot turns ready.
“Checked today 09:12 · 11 boxes in 41 s · the decisions stay with Nadia”
Nadia signs from the checklist. The signing screen sets out the forms (SL-1 and SL-2), the taxable premium, the tax, the stamping fee and the due date — 17 Nov 2026, 36 days away — and she confirms, as the licensed surplus lines filer, that the diligent search, affidavit and disclosure are complete and true. The filing assembler builds the SL-1 and SL-2 in California's format, and the placement joins today's California batch, which goes from 14 to 15 filings.
“Filed with the California stamping office” — tax $7,468.50 and fee $448.11 in the remittance, a copy on the placement record.
Filings are grouped by stamping office — California SL-1 and SL-2, Texas policy filings, Florida transaction filings, New York excess line affidavits, North Carolina placement reports, Illinois policy filings. Every row shows its tax and fee and an all-ticked checklist, and the whole batch waits for her signature before the cut-off.
Tri-County Medical Transport has its head office in Phoenix, but 30 of its 31 vehicles are garaged in Las Vegas — 97% of the premium. Arizona would mean 3.00% tax plus a 0.20% fee; Nevada, 3.50% plus 0.40%. The home state resolver will not choose. It holds the case for Ruth with both answers, and nothing is filed until she decides.
The same placement, seen by the four people who carry it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six specialist agents read the binder, every declination and the state's rules; a licensed filer decides and signs.
Reads the binder, declarations page and invoice: named insured, locations and values, coverage, premium, each fee and whether the state treats it as premium, the bind date and the policy period.
Applies the federal home-state test: the principal place of business or, if all of the risk sits outside that state, the state with the greatest share of taxable premium.
Reads every declination — insurer, NAIC number, date and reason — checks the home state's admitted list and the lines the insurer writes, and compares the date with binding: after binding fails, and so does one older than the set limit. When a date fails, it searches the placement's email thread for an earlier message from the same insurer and offers it to the filer.
Applies the home state's premium tax, stamping fee and any other charge, such as Oregon's fire marshal tax, to the taxable premium, and checks the invoice against it.
Builds each filing in its state's format — SL-1 and SL-2, affidavits, office filings — adds it to the day's batch, records the office's receipt and routes a returned filing back to its checklist with the reason.
Calendars every filing's due date from the home state's rule, and at 21, 7 and 2 days drafts one request per retail agency listing every open item and its deadline.
Accepts evidence and signs; compliance manager decides home-state disputes. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Filers and compliance can ask about any placement, declination, state rule or deadline — or have it draft the next request. Every answer cites the binder, the letter or the rule.
Why did the Coastal Sequoia declination fail on Marisol Cold Storage?
The letter is dated 24 Sep 2026, but the risk was bound on 18 Sep — six days earlier. California needs three declinations from admitted insurers that write the line, made before placement. Harold Brenner's email of 15 Sep is in the placement thread; if you accept it, the box ticks and the filing is ready.
Which filings are due in the next 7 days with a box still open?
Three, all by Sunday 18 Oct: Catawba Timber Frame (NC), due 16 Oct, affidavit not signed; Hudson Kiln Brewing (NY), due 17 Oct, Lakeview Casualty does not write liquor liability; Brazos Ridge Self Storage (TX), due 18 Oct, third declination missing. The other 34 filings due this week have every box ticked.
Why is Marisol taxed 100% in California when one warehouse is in Reno?
Because California is the home state: Marisol's principal place of business is Fresno. Under the federal home-state rule only the home state may tax a non-admitted policy, so the whole $248,950 is taxed at California's 3.00% plus 0.18% fee — $7,916.61. The Reno warehouse adds no Nevada tax.
Draft one request to Prairie Hill for everything they still owe
Drafted. Prairie Hill owes two Texas items: the third declination for Brazos Ridge (due 18 Oct) and a dated copy of the Caprock Mutual letter for Ridgeback Roofing (due 24 Oct). Carla Nguyen opened Friday's request but has not replied. The draft is open — send it when you are happy.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
The rules your filers work to are settings. Changes are versioned and need the compliance manager's approval.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Declination must be dated on or before binding | On | On · Off — the filer can accept earlier evidence from the same insurer |
| Oldest declination accepted | 90 days | Days before binding; older declinations fail as stale |
| Check NAIC number against the admitted list | On | On · Off — admitted in the home state and writes the line |
| Search the placement thread for earlier evidence | On | On · Off — when a declination fails on its date |
| Reminders to retail agents | 21 · 7 · 2 days | Days before the filing deadline; one request per agency per day |
| Who signs a filing | Nadia Ferreira, Joel Ambrose | Licensed surplus lines filers |
| Second signature when tax exceeds | $25,000 | The compliance manager co-signs |
| Daily batch cut-off | 14:00 · 16:00 | Filings signed after the cut-off go in the next batch |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample book of placements · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate, from the working solution's hero case · “typical” = published figures (Texas late-filing fees, TDI bulletin CC-47 · New York DFS consent order with an excess line broker, 22 Sep 2026). People, companies and insurers named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Software that checks each excess and surplus lines placement before it is filed with the insured's home state: the diligent search, the affidavit and disclosure, the premium tax and stamping fee, and the filing in the state's format before its deadline. Surplus Lines Filing Compliance gives every placement a per-state stamping checklist that agents fill in and a licensed filer signs.
The declination checker reads every declination — insurer, NAIC number, date and reason — and looks the insurer up in the home state's admitted list for the line. It compares each date with the binding date, so a letter written after the risk was bound fails its box. It then searches the placement's emails for earlier evidence and offers it to the filer.
The home state resolver applies the federal home-state test: the principal place of business, or the state with the greatest share of taxable premium if all of the risk is elsewhere. When two states are plausible it does not choose; it sends both answers and their tax to the compliance manager.
On the taxable premium — premium plus any fee the home state treats as premium — at the home state's published rates, plus any other charge such as Oregon's fire marshal tax. For Marisol Cold Storage that is 3.00% tax and a 0.18% stamping fee on $248,950: $7,916.61. The calculator also checks the invoice and flags a fee charged at the wrong rate.
No. Agents read, check, calculate and draft; a licensed filer accepts any substitute evidence and signs every filing, and the compliance manager co-signs when the tax exceeds $25,000. Requests to retail agents are drafted but not sent until the filer releases them.
Each home state's own rules and format: in the working solution, California SL-1 and SL-2, Texas policy filings, Florida transaction filings, New York excess line affidavits, North Carolina placement reports and Illinois policy filings, among 31 states. Each state's rule shows its source, and rule changes need the compliance manager's approval.
Yes. How old a declination may be, whether NAIC numbers are checked, whether the email thread is searched, when retail agents are reminded, who signs, the second-signature threshold, who decides home-state disputes and the daily batch cut-off are all settings.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your filing procedures, the states you file in and a sample of past placements — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own placements first.
Control gaps found before the quote, each linked to the answer or scan.
1-min demoCyber Accumulation ManagementExposed insureds and limit listed the day a vendor event breaks.
1-min demoPolicy Wording ComparisonEvery deviation from your form found in minutes, none bound without an approver.
1-min demoWe'll run Surplus Lines Filing Compliance on a sample of your own bound placements.