Procedural Updates

On October 31, 2023, Texas Department of Insurance Commissioner Cassie Brown signed an Order decreasing the stamping fee from the current rate of .075% to .04%. The fee reduction aligns with the recommendation submitted to the Commissioner by the SLTX Board in March 2023. The new fee will become effective January 1, 2024.

By close of business, November 2, 2023, SLTX will accept filings with an effective date of 01/01/2024 or later. SLTX will resume acceptance of transactions with the standard lead time of 90 days. SLTX does not expect any late filings to be generated given the January 1st timing of the fee change and the standard 90-day lead-time.

The new stamping fee rate will apply to new or renewal surplus lines policies with an effective date on or after January 1, 2024. It will also apply to policy date extensions on or after this date. Policies effective on or before December 31, 2023, will run to expiration, cancellation, or next annual anniversary date (for multi-year policies) at the existing rate of 0.075%. This includes any subsequent endorsements, audits, cancellations, reinstatements, installments, and monthly or quarterly reports.

The delayed September SMART release includes the following:

New Features!

• Users can now correct any pending, other than pending reversals, deletes, or updates, from the Outstanding Errors (Tags) page (click “pencil icon” in Actions column)
• Users can now delete any pending directly from the Outstanding Errors (Tags) page
• API Batches containing all pending transactions may be deleted via API
• All rules for coverage and class code are now enforced for API filers. You will encounter an error / tag when submitting a filing with a coverage code not “in a relationship” with a specific class code. For example, submitting a residential coverage code such as “Homeowners” with a commercial class code such as “Restaurants”.

Improvements:

• “Invite New User” workflow now sends 2^nd email to re-state assigned user ID
• Consistent handling of some data points for child transactions adopted by Policy Replacing Binder
• Ineligibility icons consistently cleared with reversals or policy replacing binder
• Performance when deleting large number of pending items through existing SMART UI
• Phase 2 of changes to API Batch status when posting fails / encounters a timeout (allowing re-post)

SLTX will release process improvements and/or enhancements as available.

Visit Training Videos & Guides page to access all user guides or supplemental video components for each transaction or feature in SMART (including API technical and user guides). Need additional support? Sign up for an online support session, or a full walk-though of SMART’s features tailored to your agency’s business / workflows. Or a support session for technical assistance with API (automated) filings and/or SMART Connector processes.

TDI has filed a proposal to add additional commercial lines of property and casualty insurance to the rate and form filing requirements as authorized by Senate Bill 1367 (87R, 2021). As a reminder, 6 TIC 981.004(g) indicates that a diligent effort is not required for the commercial coverages outlined within the sections initially modified by SB1367 and included within this latest proposal (10 TIC 2251.0031(a) and (c): and 10 TIC 2301.0031(a) and (c)).

This proposal allows for a public comment period through November 6, 2023. View the proposal for the full text and how to submit comments.

For other dates and documents related to this action, visit TDI’s 2023 rules webpage.

In March 2023, SLTX’s Board of Directors made a recommendation to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to reduce the stamping fee from the current rate of 0.075% of gross premium to 0.04% effective 1/1/2024.

On September 22, 2023, TDI published a Notice of Recommendation to Decrease the Stamping Fee Rate for the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas, which allows for a public comment period through October 12, 2023. Click the above link to view the publication and information about the comment period, which includes details about where to make comments.

Until TDI provides feedback with the new rate and effective date, SLTX will not accept any filing with an effective date of 01/01/2024 or later. This will allow SLTX to be proactive in applying the current stamping fee rates while not accepting transactions where a new rate might apply. To facilitate this change, SLTX will be reducing the number of lead-days allowed for making a future filing from 90 days to 45 days. Submitted transactions with an effective date later than 45 days (in advance) will be tagged (errored). Once fee approval is received from TDI, SLTX will resume its acceptance of transactions with the standard lead-time of 90 days.  At that time, any tagged (errored) transactions should be resubmitted for processing. Given the lead-time, SLTX does not expect that any late filings to be generated due to this change.

To add clarity to the timing and application of the proposed new rate: The proposed new stamping fee rate will apply to each new or renewal surplus lines policy with an effective date on or after January 1, 2024. The proposed new rate will also apply to policy date extensions if effective on or after this date. Policies effective on or before December 31, 2023, will run to expiration, cancellation, or next annual anniversary date (for multi-year policies) at the existing rate of 0.075%. This includes any subsequent endorsements, audits, cancellations, reinstatements, installments, and monthly or quarterly reports.

The delayed August SMART release includes the following:

New Features!

• Users can now correct any pending, other than pending reversals, deletes, or updates, from the API Details page (click “Correct Errors”) or from the Policy Details page (click “Edit”)
• Users can now delete any API pending directly from the API Details or Upload Details pages
• Pending transactions will no longer be created for duplicate API submissions, by policy number, effective date, and CustomID, where a previous API submission has been made
• TEST Environment only: All rules for coverage and class code are now enforced for API filers. SMART’s next release will deploy this feature to the LIVE environment, which is scheduled no sooner than Friday, October 13, 2023, allowing time for necessary corrections. See previous notification for additional details.

Improvements:

• Catalog ID now shown on API Upload Details page
• Better handling when correcting API pending(s) for name, policy number, or date changes to display both the old and new values during the correction process
• Better handling of Previous Uploads page to better manage Load times for agents with exceptionally large number of API submissions
• Handling of one-time migration process for Continuous Until Cancelled “dummy renewals” with existing Agent of Record
• Consistent labeling of SLTX ID from Policies Detail page
• Consistent results when searching for an invalid batch number from the Upload API page
• Consistent handling of Contract “edits” when the insurer has had a TDI Company Number change
• Indicator icons added: API filing brokers, Broker with expired license

SLTX will release process improvements and/or enhancements as available.

Visit Training Videos & Guides page to access all user guides or supplemental video components for each transaction or feature in SMART (including API technical and user guides). Need additional support? Sign up for an online support session, or a full walk-though of SMART’s features tailored to your agency’s business / workflows. Or a support session for technical assistance with API (automated) filings and/or SMART Connector processes.

Beginning with the September 2023 release, all rules for coverage and class code will be enforced in SMART. You will encounter an error / tag when submitting a filing with a coverage code not “in a relationship” with a specific class code.  For example, submitting a residential coverage code such as “Homeowners” with a commercial class code such as “Restaurants”.  The September 2023 release is scheduled for Friday, October 6, 2023, allowing time for necessary corrections. For assistance or to have your existing coverage/class code “mappings” reviewed, please contact Tech Support via email.

To provide an opportunity for testing and confirmation of codes, this feature will be available within the TEST Environment as part of the August 2023 release. Tentatively, the August release is slated for August 28^th or August 29^th. As the August release is finalized, a publication and global email notice will be sent to all SMART users with an active and unexpired User ID.

Please note that these coverage and class code rules are automatically applied with any manual SMART filings. No further changes to the manual coverage or class selection processes are required.

The July SMART release included the following improvements:

• Correct Original Filing field now allows search by Policy Number and SLTX ID
• Better handling of existing non-policy transactions when they are transitioned to a Policy Replacing Binder
• Indicator icon added for brokers utilizing a 3^rd party filer (to make filings on their behalf)
• Phase 1 of changes to Outstanding Errors (Tags) page to allow users to choose which data points are shown (via Display feature)
• Improved propagation of CustomID when correcting errors (tags)
• Phase 1 of changes to Upload API page, to allow user to search by various data points (including batch number) on all previously submitted API/XML files
• Email notification if API Batch posting ends abnormally
• Phase 1 of changes to API Batch status when posting fails / encounters a timeout
• API Batch Status endpoint will more appropriately handle bad or invalid data sent as part of the status request
• Market Data Reports are automatically created as part of SMART’s monthly processes

SLTX will release process improvements and/or enhancements as available.

Visit Training Videos & Guides page to access all user guides or supplemental video components for each transaction or feature in SMART (including API technical and user guides). Need additional support? Sign up for an online support session, or a full walk-though of SMART’s features tailored to your agency’s business / workflows. Or a support session for technical assistance with API (automated) filings and/or SMART Connector processes.

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has adopted amendments to certain contact information found in Title 28, Texas Administrative Code (TAC). Amendments include changes to TDI’s mailing addresses, email addresses, and web addresses. Other non-substantive changes, such as replacing the word “font” with “type”, are included in the adoption order. These changes were effective July 1, 2023, and must be implemented no later than September 1, 2023.

The updated complaint notice can be found as an attachment to the rule (28 TAC §1.601) on the Texas Register website. It can also be viewed or downloaded from the TDI Policy Disclosures page on the SLTX website.

The “Complaint Notice” (per 28 TAC §1.601) has been updated to reflect the following changes to the TDI Mailing Address:

• Consumer Protection, MC: CO-CP, Texas Department of Insurance, P.O. Box 12030, Austin, TX 78711-2030.

Please contact the SLTX Tech Support team by phone at (800) 681-5848 (option 1) or by email with any additional questions.