BILL REQ. #:  S-4018.1 

Read first time 01/22/10.   Referred to Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance.

     AN ACT Relating to surplus line coverage; and amending RCW 48.15.040.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 48.15.040 and 1983 1st ex.s. c 32 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     If certain insurance coverages cannot be procured from authorized insurers, such coverages, hereinafter designated as "surplus lines," may be procured from unauthorized insurers subject to the following conditions:
     (1) The insurance must be procured through a licensed surplus line broker.
     (2) The insurance must not be procurable, after diligent effort has been made to do so from among a majority of the insurers authorized to transact that kind of insurance in this state.
     (3) Coverage ((shall)) must not be procured from an unauthorized insurer for the purpose of securing a lower premium rate than would be accepted by any authorized insurer nor to secure any other competitive advantage.
     (4) The commissioner may by ((regulation)) rule establish the degree of effort required to comply with subsections (2) and (3) of this section.
     (5) At the time of the procuring of any such insurance ((an affidavit)) a declaration setting forth the facts referred to in subsections (2) and (3) of this section must be executed by the surplus line broker. Such ((affidavit)) declaration ((shall)) must be ((filed with)) submitted to the commissioner within thirty days after the insurance is procured. The declaration may be in electronic, digital, or other format or form as designated by the commissioner. The declaration must include the following certification:

"I certify (or declare) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct."