Frequently Asked Questions

All employees involved in the direct procurement of a surplus lines policy placed on an insured whose home state is North Carolina, must have an individual North Carolina surplus lines license.

§ 58-21-65.  Licensing of surplus lines license.
(a) For insureds whose home state is this State, no agent or broker licensed by the Commissioner shall directly procure any contract of surplus lines insurance with any nonadmitted domestic surplus lines insurer or nonadmitted insurer, unless he possesses a current surplus lines insurance license issued by the Commissioner.

On the first business day following the end of each calendar quarter (March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31), two separate invoices, one for the surplus lines tax and one for the stamping fee, will be available in SLIP for review and payment. Filers will also receive a billing report in SLIP that contains the transactions included in the tax and stamping fee invoices.

• Taxes and stamping fees are due within 30 days of the invoice date.
• Separate payments must be issued for the surplus lines tax and stamping fee invoices.
• Invoices must be paid in full to be compliant with the NCDOI.
• No adjustments should be made to the invoice.
• Transactions entered in SLIP after the quarter has closed will be reflected on the next invoice. 

Payment for the North Carolina surplus lines tax must be paid in SLIP by ACH.

Surplus Lines Tax – ACH Payments:

For surplus lines tax ACH payment, the SLIP administrator will need to enter their bank information in SLIP at the payment screen for surplus lines tax. This information will then be transmitted to the NCDOI’s bank, who will then debit the surplus lines tax payment from the agency’s account. The information you need regarding the NCDOI’s bank customer ID # to allow for this debit transaction is printed below.

ACH Company Name – NC DEPT INSUR

ACH Company ID – 1561401519

Payment for the North Carolina surplus lines stamping fee must be paid in SLIP by ACH.

Stamping Fee – ACH Payments:

For stamping fee ACH payments, the SLIP administrator will need to enter their bank information in SLIP on the payment screen for surplus lines stamping fees. This information will then be transmitted to PNC bank, who will then debit the stamping fee payment from the agency’s account. The information you need regarding the NCSLA’s PNC customer ID # to allow for this debit transaction is printed below.

ACH Company Name: NCarolinaSurplus

ACH Company ID: 1581712305

All licensing and questions regarding your license should be directed to the North Carolina Department of Insurance – Agent Services Division. https://www.ncdoi.gov/licensees/agent-and-adjuster-licensing

No. Once you receive your North Carolina Surplus Lines License (Resident or Nonresident) the licensee is automatically a member of the NCSLA. There is no requirement to register with the NCSLA, and membership dues are no longer required.

All SLIP questions should be directed to the North Carolina Surplus Lines Stamping Office (NCSLA) at contact@ncsla.com

Do not contact the NC Department of Insurance on any SLIP questions, as they will refer you to the NCSLA.

Once a North Carolina surplus lines licensee has received their North Carolina surplus lines license (Resident or Non-resident), the licensee should view the SLIP registration tutorial on the NCSLA website at the following link.

SLIP Tutorials

After viewing the registration tutorial, the licensee should register at the SLIP login screen to receive their credentials. The credentials will be issued by SLIP and emailed to the licensee after the registration approval process.

SLIP Login

SLIP is only mandatory for those filing surplus lines taxes on non-admitted policies.  If you write “0” non-admitted policies in North Carolina, then there is no need to register for SLIP.

If your company has a North Carolina Business Entity Surplus Lines license, then you should register for SLIP as a corporation. Otherwise, you will need to register as an individual.

A corporate license in North Carolina is not a “Business Entity Surplus Lines" license.

New and renewal filings on surplus lines policies with an inception date of 01/01/2017 and later, can be entered through SLIP. Endorsements can also be entered in SLIP, but only for those policies with an inception date of 01/01/2017 and later.

Filings are due within 30 days of binding. (North Carolina General Statute §58-21-35)

Policies should be filed when written and not on a quarterly basis.

The North Carolina Form F has been replaced by an online “Compliance Acknowledgement” which confirms that the surplus lines licensee has verified the producing agent has complied with North Carolina General Statute §58-21 for the placement of surplus lines business in North Carolina.

A copy of the compliance acknowledgment should be maintained in each insured’s file. (Either a hard copy or electronically stored).

No forms are required to be uploaded with SLIP filings.

Only those individuals listed as licensees under the Business Entity Surplus Lines license are considered duly licensed to place surplus lines business.  To be listed as a licensee under a business entity surplus lines license you must be an individual North Carolina surplus lines licensee.

§ 58-21-65.  Licensing of surplus lines license.
(c) Corporations shall be eligible to be surplus lines licensees, upon the following conditions:

(1) The corporate licensee shall list individuals within the corporation who have satisfied all requirements of this Article to become surplus lines licensees; and

(2) Only those individuals listed on the corporate license and who are surplus lines licensees shall transact surplus lines business.

Yes, company fees are taxable. Company fees are those charged by the insurer.

Any fees charged by the broker are not subject to the North Carolina surplus lines tax or the North Carolina stamping fee.

Yes. SLIP is configured to allow for multiple policy submissions through a batch format.

The following link will direct you to our batch upload guides.

Batch Upload Guides

We also have a batch filing video that can be viewed on our SLIP tutorials page.

SLIP Tutorials

The North Carolina Surplus Lines Stamping Office will perform Compliance Audits under the advisement of the North Carolina Department of Insurance. The stamping office will request that certain documents be sent to verify that filings are being accurately entered in SLIP.

The purpose of the review is to ensure compliance by the surplus lines licensees relative to the export of surplus lines insurance contracts, to provide educational assistance to surplus lines agents where needed, and to measure the quality of service provided in the marketplace. The stamping office will also run Verification Reports to confirm that the surplus lines policies reported as written in North Carolina by each surplus lines insurer, match the filings entered through SLIP that are reported by each surplus lines licensee.

North Carolina General Statute G.S. 58-21-15 governs diligent search requirements for the placement of surplus lines insurance in North Carolina. The statute is broad in scope and does not require a specific number of declinations from the admitted insurers before insurance is placed with an authorized surplus lines insurer.

The NCDOI has maintained the position that the producing agent is responsible for conducting a diligent search for the placement of insurance with admitted insurers in North Carolina. In the event that insurance cannot be placed with an admitted insurer in North Carolina, it is the responsibility of the surplus lines licensee to confirm that the diligent search was conducted by the producing agent.

North Carolina insurance laws, including the Surplus Lines Act, are silent as to the type of documentation that the surplus lines licensee may use as confirmation of the diligent search by the producing agent. This decision regarding acceptable documentation confirming the diligent search can be determined by the surplus lines licensee. A copy of the licensee’s diligent search confirmation, shall be maintained in the insured’s policy file.

North Carolina General Statute §58-21-45(f) requires that every surplus lines policy placed by a surplus lines licensee bear the name of the licensee and the following legend in 12-point type and in contrasting color or in 12-point type and underlined and in bold print.

• For nonadmitted insurer: “The insurer with which this coverage has been placed is not licensed by the State of North Carolina and is not subject to its supervision. In the event of the insolvency of the insurance company, losses under this policy will not be paid by any State insurance guaranty or solvency fund.”

• For nonadmitted domestic surplus lines insurers: “The insurer with which this coverage has been placed is domiciled and authorized by the State of North Carolina and is subject to its supervision. However, in the event of the insolvency of the insurance company, losses under this policy will not be paid by any State insurance guaranty or solvency fund.”

Please refer to North Carolina General Statute §58-21-75, Records of surplus lines licensee.

Records can be kept either electronically or a hard copy and must be maintained for 5 years.

North Carolina does not require any quarterly or annual filing reports.

No “0” reports are required if there are no filings in SLIP.

Risk Purchasing Groups and Independent Procurement filings are to be filed directly with the NCDOI as they have historically been filed. These cannot be entered in SLIP.

For questions regarding Risk Purchasing Groups and Independent Procurement, please contact the NCDOI – Property and Casualty Division.

No. North Carolina surplus lines licensees are prohibited from doing “Courtesy Filings" for any agent who does not have a North Carolina surplus lines license and is directly involved in the procurement of a surplus lines policy in North Carolina. 

Any person who is directly involved with procuring surplus lines policies in North Carolina must have a North Carolina surplus lines license. North Carolina General Statute §58-21-65(a)

All tax-exempt filings are to be entered in SLIP but will not receive an approval until the NCDOI has been notified of such filing and has approved the tax-exempt status for such risk.

• File the policy in SLIP with a nontaxable tax status. SLIP will mark this as a Transaction in Question.
• The NCSLA will ask for supporting documentation to present to the NCDOI for a decision on the tax status.
• The NCDOI will review each policy on a case by case basis for tax-exempt approval.

Yes. All tax-exempt filings are subject to the surplus lines stamping fee, except for North Carolina state owned property.

The North Carolina surplus lines tax is five percent (5%) on all transactions.

The North Carolina surplus lines stamping fee is four-tenths of one percent (0.4%) on all transactions with a policy inception date of 01/01/2017 or later. This fee will apply to all premiums, company (insurer) imposed fees, and all endorsements entered in SLIP.

Example:

Example: