General Info

The Surplus Line Association of Illinois (SLAI) is an organization comprising all licensed Illinois surplus line insurance producers. Surplus line producers are agents and brokers who hold a special license from the Illinois Department of Insurance allowing them, under certain conditions, to procure policies from insurers that are not licensed in this state.

Created by statute in 1985, the Association acts as a liaison between the Department and surplus line producers. The SLAI is a self-funded body that is charged with the duty to educate the marketplace in order to facilitate and encourage compliance with the surplus line law, accept filings from surplus line producers, report data to the Department of Insurance, and provide other services to its members that are incidental or related to the purposes of the Association.

The SLAI helps protect Illinois policyholders by collecting, compiling and providing to the Department of Insurance vital marketplace information and by educating surplus line producers and assisting them in complying with the law.

The dedicated professionals who make up the membership of the SLAI play an essential role in the Illinois economy by facilitating insurance coverage for emerging, unique, challenging and specialty risks. The Association and its members are committed to maintaining a healthy, fair, law-abiding and competitive surplus line insurance marketplace.

Services

The Surplus Line Association of Illinois provides direct services to its members and to the Illinois Department of Insurance.

For its members, the Association provides filing services, tax forms, continuing education classes, procedures workshops and is the primary point of contact for information regarding compliance issues for the Illinois surplus line marketplace.

For the Department of Insurance, the Association provides marketplace, producer and insurer data and information.  The Association relieves the DOI from the burdensome task of collecting and compiling this market data, and it is done without expending state tax revenues.

In addition, certain services are prescribed by statute.  The Illinois Insurance Code states that the Association shall be authorized and have the duty to:

  • receive and record all surplus line insurance contracts which surplus line producers are required to file with the Association under subsection (5) of Section 445;
  • prepare monthly reports for the Director on surplus line insurance procured by its members during the preceding month in such form and providing such information as the Director may prescribe;
  • prepare and deliver to each licensee and to the Director the reports of surplus line business prescribed in subsection (3) of Section 445;
  • assess its members for costs of operations in accordance with a schedule adopted by the Board of Directors of the Association and approved by the Director;
  • employ and retain such persons as are necessary to carry out the duties of the Association;
  • borrow money as necessary to effect the purposes of the Association;
  • enter contracts as necessary to effect the purposes of the Association;
  • perform such other acts as will facilitate and encourage compliance by its members with the surplus line law of this State and rules promulgated thereunder; and
  • provide such other services to its members as are incidental or related to the purposes of the Association.