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| During its meeting of March 7, 2002 the Board
of Directors of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office approved a motion
requesting Commissioner of Insurance Montemayor to decrease the stamping fee
rate from .25% (.0025) to .15% (.0015). Notice of the request appeared in
the April 19 Texas Register, indicating a proposed effective date for the
decrease of July 1, 2002. Thanks goes to Senior Associate Commissioner Betty
Patterson and Kathy Wilcox at TDI for their assistance throughout the
regulatory approval process. We recognize that agents need adequate notice of a rate change so they can reprogram their business systems. The Stamping Office has worked diligently to expedite the Board's motion. You received a Stamping Office bulletin dated April 4, 2002 initially informing you of this potential change. Our goal at the Stamping Office is to maintain a stable stamping fee rate for as long as practicable. As a nonprofit organization, the Stamping Office is intended to operate on a "break-even" basis. Thus, stamping fee revenue each year should be just adequate to meet annual expenses - given the normal vacillations in the surplus lines market, a difficult proposition. In actuality, in years when revenues exceed expenses, the excess is transferred to a reserve fund. In years when expenses exceed revenues, however, the Stamping Office relies on funds from its reserves to make up the difference. The Stamping Office Plan of Operation limits the permissible size of the reserve fund to one times the office's annual expenses. Over the past months, this fund has grown because of stamping fee revenues associated with unpredictable increases in surplus lines premiums - the hard market has brought both higher rates and more policies. (Total Texas surplus lines premium increased more than 34% in 2001 and is up another 71% through the first quarter of 2002.) These two factors - unanticipated premium increases and a regulatory ceiling on the size of the Stamping Office reserve fund - dictate that we lower the stamping fee rate. If regulatory approval proceeds as we expect, the lower rate will apply to each new or renewal surplus lines policy with an effective date on or after July 1, 2002. Policies effective on or before June 30, 2002 will run to expiration, cancellation, or next annual anniversary date (for multi-year policies) at the old rate of .25%. This includes any subsequent endorsements, audits, cancellations, reinstatements, installments, and monthly or quarterly reports. However, the new rate will apply to policy date extensions effective on or after July 1, 2002. |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Introductory Meetings Scheduled to Discuss
E-Filing System
Meet
us in Houston or Dallas
| The Stamping Office has awarded a contract to Renaissance
Systems, Inc. and work has begun on a project of great interest to many
Texas surplus lines agents - development of a system permitting the
reporting of surplus lines policy data to the Stamping Office
electronically. To provide agents input into this important project, we have
scheduled a series of four short presentations in both Houston (May 14) and
in Dallas (May 16). These sessions will give agents and their technology
staff an opportunity to hear our initial thoughts on system design concepts
and features, provide us feedback, and ask questions of our developers.
(Note: meeting rooms will only accommodate up to 35 attendees, so please
register early.) Much of our current thinking regarding operation of an
e-filing system is based upon valuable discussions held last year with an
Electronic Filing Advisory Committee, which consisted of several agents,
technology professionals, and state regulators. We pledge to make every
effort to maximize industry involvement in the development of this system.
Our hope is to take ideas arising from the meetings to refine system design
and operation. You can register to attend one of the Electronic Filing System meetings on-line at www.slsot.org. Also, registration forms for the meetings were mailed to every surplus lines agent in mid-April. Included with this mailing was an Electronic Filing Questionnaire, which solicited information regarding agency systems and current data interchange practices. We ask you to complete and return this survey, even if you do not plan to attend one of the e-filing meetings.
Morning
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From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Ballinger
Elected CPCU Central Texas Chapter President
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The Central Texas Chapter of CPCU recently elected Phil Ballinger, SLSOT
General Manager, to serve as chapter president for the 2002-2003 year. The
Central Texas Chapter was recognized last year as one of only 14 chapters in
the nation to receive the CPCU Society's Gold Circle of Excellence Award. It
is presented to chapters achieving certain standards of performance in
professional development, education, membership, community works, and public
relations. Ballinger also currently serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Associate in Surplus Lines Insurance (ASLI) professional designation. |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
New Directors Appointed; Board Elect 2002 Officers
| Commissioner of Insurance Jose Montemayor has
appointed Ted Hosterman, Heath Insurance Brokers, Dallas as an industry
member and Terry McGarrity, El Paso Electric Company, El Paso as a public
member to serve on the Stamping Office Board of Directors. They replace W.
Stephen Conner, Crump Insurance Services of Texas and Susan Bulla, City of
Fort Worth, whose terms expired December 31, 2001. Mr. Hosterman and Mr.
McGarrity will both serve 3-year terms. During its March meeting the Board of Directors elected its officers for 2002. They are: Chairman - Simon Bancroft, Swett & Crawford; Vice-chair - Dean Frigo, City of Amarillo; and Secretary - George Adkins, John L. Wortham and Son, LLP. |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Current SL License Number Now Required for All Policy Filings
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As a result of system changes at TDI over the past few years, the format of license numbers issued to surplus lines agents has changed substantially. To simplify filing with our office, we have continued to accept batches submitted that indicated any one of the previously issued license or ID numbers. For instance, some agents have used the recent seven or eight character number, or even the "really" old number that TDI used to issue that began with an "S". Some of you are using the last three or four digits from the "S" number on your batches, since that was your surplus lines license number for so many years. Unfortunately, our desire to accommodate all these previous license number formats has now become a problem for us. If every agent is not consistently using the same license numbering system, we have learned that there is a real potential for duplication of numbers between agents. Therefore, we must request that you only submit batches using your current (newest) surplus lines license number. This is the number indicated on your most recent license renewal. (It is the number shown when you access your agency name through Texas On-Line.) |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Do we have your current address?
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The Insurance Code requires every surplus lines agent to
notify TDI of any change of address. Also, please remember to include the
Stamping Office in this notification. We find that our volume of return mail
is growing, meaning our address information for some agents is incorrect.
Even if you receive your bulletins and newsletters by e-mail, please inform
us of any change in your location. This will ensure you continue to receive
other important information from us, such as invoices or monthly and
year-end statements. You can |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
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We welcome the following new employees to the Stamping Office this quarter: May Sanders joined the Administration Department as Mail Clerk. Cristina Abascal and Kina Zuniga were hired as Data Entry Clerks in Data Services. |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Stamping Office Agent Workshops for 2002
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Stamping Office seminars for 2002 will focus on policy filing procedures and
will also include a discussion of the |
San Antonio September 5, 2002 San Antonio Convention Ctr. 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Houston September 11, 2002 Adam’s Mark Hotel 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Arlington September 26, 2002 Arlington Convention Center 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. |
From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
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From the Lone Star Lines -
April - June Issue 2002
Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Comparison of SLSOT Premium Processed
by Line of Business
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