CALIF. STAMPING OFFICE TURNS 65

Ted Pierce, executive director of the Surplus Line Association of California (SLA) announced that Dec. 1, 2003 marks the 65th anniversary of the organization’s stamping office. On this date in 1938, California Insurance Commissioner Rex B. Goodcell and
Assistant Commissioner Harold B. Haas authorized a plan in which the Commissioner would allow the surplus line brokers to make filings with a new “Stamping Office” within the SLA. Commissioner Goodcell wrote, “The establishment of the Stamping Office by the Surplus Line Association constitutes a splendid example of initiative and cooperation on the part of the Association.” The SLA elected to maintain a stamping office in San Francisco for the purpose of examining and recording all filings required by the Insurance Commissioner’s Rules and Regulations relating to Surplus Line Brokers or by the Executive Committee of the SLA. Today, the SLA is an organization of 650 surplus line brokers licensed by the State of California to negotiate and place insurance with
nonadmitted insurers. The Association serves as the official surplus line advisory organization to the California Department of Insurance. California Insurance Code Sec. 1780.50 et seq. With few exceptions, all California surplus line insurance policies must be filed with the Surplus Line Association of California for analysis,
regulatory compliance, record keeping and statistical reporting.