History of the SLAI
Prior to the existence of the Surplus Line Association, the Department of Insurance of Illinois was directly involved with all the steps necessary to file surplus line business. The Department provided the producers a list of surplus line carriers they were permitted to use. Each producer or firm was required to file a monthly risk affidavit with the Department of Insurance. This affidavit covered the transactions of the previous month, listing the name and location of the insured, amount of coverage, gross premium, name of the surplus line carrier and type of coverage. In addition, each producer or firm was required to remit the surplus line tax and the appropriate forms on a semi-annual basis in February and August.
During the early 1980’s, a prominent law firm approached the Department of Insurance to propose the development of a surplus line association or a stamping office. The intent behind this proposal was to create a self-regulated, self-funded body which would consolidate all the reporting to the Department of Insurance on behalf of the brokerage community. While the regulatory responsibility would remain with the state, the Association would report the collected data to the Department of Insurance on a monthly basis replacing all the monthly reports previously provided by individual producers and firms to the Department. This would free the Department from much time consuming administrative work and would enable them to concentrate their resources on regulatory matters.
On December 27, 1984, the Director of Insurance appointed a five member Implementation Task Force of prominent surplus line producers. The task force met for the first time early in 1985 to discuss operating procedures, staff size, office space, budget needs and other important issues.
At the same time, a draft bill was submitted to the Insurance Committee of the Illinois Legislature by the Department of Insurance. The bill was then presented formally to the House and Senate. A number of surplus line producers were asked to testify before legislative committees during the deliberation process. The culmination of all these activities was on February 27, 1985, when the bill creating the new Surplus Line Association was signed into law.
A Board of Directors for the Surplus Line Association was elected by the Illinois surplus line producers. On April 30, 1985, the first Board of Directors meeting was held. The first act of the board was to review the recommendations of the Implementation Task Force and approve the various steps needed to begin, which included instituting procedures, establishing a Plan of Operation, adopting a budget, determining staff needs and making other necessary operational decisions.
The Surplus Line Association then set up quarters at 230 West Monroe in Chicago in late June, 1985, and began operations as planned on July 1, 1985. The Association relocated to 100 S. Wacker Drive in July, 2000 and moved to its current location at 222 S. Riverside Plaza in July, 2015.