Non-Admitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (NIMA) Clearinghouse Filing Platform Goes Live; Nevada Withdraws

 
On July 1, 2012, the implementation of a platform to simplify the allocation of surplus lines taxes went “live” on the World Wide Web with the release of the Surplus Lines Information Portal (“SLIP”) for use by the Non-Admitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (“NIMA”) Surplus Lines Clearinghouse (“Clearinghouse”).

However, just days before the Clearinghouse’s long-awaited introduction, the State of Nevada announced its withdrawal from NIMA.  Notwithstanding, the Clearinghouse was able to test and implement a related programming change in SLIP and deploy the system as planned.  

Based on a resolution passed by the NIMA states on June 12, 2012 in regard to such situations, Nevada will not be considered a participating state for new business and renewal policies effective on, or after July 1, 2012 that are filed through the Clearinghouse.

The resolution reads:  Policies effective during the time in which a state is a NIMA Participating State (including the 60-day withdrawal period from NIMA) will be filed with the Clearinghouse through the end of the withdrawal period.  However, Participating States which tender notice of withdrawal prior to the date of the Clearinghouse implementation will not participate in the Clearinghouse tax filing or tax allocation.

As of July 1, the current NIMA participating states are Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

With this week’s launch, the Clearinghouse effectively came one step further to achieving a viable tax sharing agreement as outlined by the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act. 

SLIP provides agents, brokers and insureds with a means to submit multi-state policy information through a single Web-based platform that allows the Clearinghouse to accurately collect and distribute taxes among participating states.  As of July 1, reporting entities can register with SLIP on the Clearinghouse Web site (www.slclearinghouse.com) to obtain log-in credentials and begin submitting policy data.    

All multi-state policies (policies with exposure in more than one state or jurisdiction) where the Home State of the insured is a NIMA participating state should be filed through the Clearinghouse.  

Of note, policies filed through the Clearinghouse during the Third Quarter will be invoiced on October 1. 

Additional information is outlined below:

 

Hours of Operation

The Clearinghouse staff will be available to answer customer questions via telephone and email from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET).  If callers are unable to reach a customer service representative, a message should be left and the calls will be promptly returned. Clearinghouse SLIP Tutorials Available on the Web site.

Clearinghouse SLIP Tutorials are now available online to assist customers in navigating the Clearinghouse SLIP filing platform.  The tutorials are posted on the Clearinghouse Web site at http://www.slclearinghouse.com/education/videolibrary.aspx.   

 

Puerto Rico Independently Procured Coverage Tax Rate

The Clearinghouse was recently notified that Puerto Rico has a separate tax rate for Independently Procured Coverage (“IPC”) filers of 15 percent.  The Clearinghouse filing platform has been updated to charge the tax of 15 percent on IPC customers.  Work is being done to update the Multi-State Tax Calculator to reflect this change, as well.   

 

Tax Rate Table Now Available on the Clearinghouse Web site

A tax rate table is now available on the Clearinghouse website at http://www.slclearinghouse.com/education/docs/tax.table.pdf.  

The table will serve as a guide for brokers and policyholders when determining the applicable taxes, fees and assessments charged by the NIMA Participating States on non-admitted, multi-state insurance that will be filed through the Clearinghouse.  Additionally, the tax table includes the business rules for taxing Non-Participating State premium when each NIMA state is the Home State of the insured.   

 

NIMA Lockbox Address

Payments should be made payable and mailed to the following addresses: 

Quarterly Tax Payments
NIMA, Inc.
PO Box 864824
Orlando, FL 32886-4824 

Clearinghouse Transaction Fee Payments
FSLSO 
PO Box 864824
Orlando, FL 32886-4824 

NOTE:  PLEASE DO NOT MAIL TAX PAYMENTS PRIOR TO RECEIVING THE INVOICES FOR THIRD QUARTER TAX FILINGS.  ANY PAYMENTS RECEIVED PRIOR TO INVOICING WILL BE RETURNED TO THE CUSTOMER. 

The Clearinghouse office contact information is:  Telephone:  (877) 267-9855 or email at info@slclearinghouse.com for any questions or requests for assistance.   

The Surplus Lines Clearinghouse is a service of the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office. The Surplus Lines Clearinghouse is contracted by NIMA, Inc. to provide software and operational support to NIMA-participating states.

 

 

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.

 

 

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