June 26, 2007/For Immediate Release                                                                         
Release No. 08-07

NAPSLO Applauds House Passage of Surplus Lines Bill

The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, Ltd., applauded Monday night’s passage of the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1065) by the U.S. House of Representatives and expressed optimism that the Senate would take up a companion bill (S 929) soon.  

“This approval is another step toward ultimately improving the operation and regulation of the surplus lines market,” said NAPSLO President William Newton. “NAPSLO is pleased that the House of Representative has approved H.R. 1065 and we are hopeful the Senate will also approve the bill.”

The Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act is, in part, aimed at making access to the surplus lines market more efficient for consumers and the brokers and agents who assist them.

Reps. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) and Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) submitted H.R. 1065 and it has several co-sponsors, including Financial Services Ranking Member Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), and Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Chairman Paul Kanjorski (D-Penn.).

“We believe that once this legislation is enacted it will help ease the insurance crisis in states still suffering from the impact of natural disasters,” said NAPSLO Executive Director Richard Bouhan.

H.R. 1065 will establish national standards for how states regulate the surplus lines market and reinsurance and would create a uniform system of surplus lines premium tax allocation and remittance, one-state compliance on multi-state surplus lines risks, and direct access to the surplus lines market for sophisticated commercial purchasers. These are concepts long endorsed by NAPSLO and promoted with members of Congress during meetings over the past two years.

H.R. 1065 was approved Monday by a vote of xxx-xxx. A similar bill, S 929, was introduced in the Senate in March 2007 by Florida Senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson and it has been referred to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. To date no action has been taken in the Senate.  

“We have been meeting with members of the Senate Banking Committee and look forward to working with the full Senate on passing this bill,” said NAPSLO’s Washington D.C. representative, Maria Berthoud of B&D Consulting.

BACKGROUND

NAPSLO is a national trade association representing the surplus lines insurance industry.  Surplus lines is a specialized segment of the insurance business that is also referred to as non-admitted, specialty and/or excess lines.  Risks are placed with the surplus lines market when they cannot be placed in the admitted/licensed market. 

NAPSLO represents surplus lines insurance agents/brokers and surplus lines insurance companies.  NAPSLO has over 1,500 member offices in the United States, Canada, Germany, and England.