Brokerage firms must be members of the Surplus Line Association of Washington to access the Washington Filing Portal, where all surplus line transactions are filed. Details about the membership process are available on our membership page.
Yes, all policies must be filed electronically in the Washington Filing Portal.
Access to the Washington Filing Portal is managed by your brokerage firm’s portal administrator. Only approved member brokerage firms may access the portal and file transactions. Membership with the Surplus Line Association of Washington is required before portal credentials can be issued. Additional details are available on our membership page.
Stamping fees are based on the effective date of the original policy, including any subsequent endorsements. Fees are subject to change. Please refer to the Taxes & Fees section of our website for current rates.
No. Only approved member brokerage firms may file surplus line transactions in Washington.
Membership with the Surplus Line Association of Washington is not a requirement to maintain your surplus line broker license.
Any surplus line brokerage entity or individual licensed in the State of Washington may apply for membership.
All applications must be submitted through the online membership application. Paper or email submissions are not accepted.
Applicants must provide their brokerage firm’s WAOIC license number and the contact information for at least one individual surplus line broker who holds an active license and is affiliated with the brokerage.
Washington State requires any individual who represents or acts on behalf of a brokerage firm to have an active license affiliation with that firm. License affiliations are managed electronically through the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
Applications are reviewed by the Surplus Line Association Board of Directors at their next scheduled Board meeting. Approval timelines may vary based on meeting schedules, typically within 4-6 weeks. If you have an urgent filing, please contact us after submitting your application.
Once your membership is approved, your portal administrator will be issued Washington Filing Portal credentials via email.
The annual membership fee is $100 and renews on September 1 each year.
Dues are not prorated; however, brokerage firms joining after March 1 will not be charged until the September 1 annual renewal date.
Brokers can be added through the Washington Filing Portal on the ‘Settings’ screen or by submitting the Broker Membership Agreement form. Once the Membership Agreement is completed, the broker will be eligible to file transactions on behalf of your firm. To complete the form, the broker must have both the broker and brokerage firm’s WAOIC license numbers. When adding a broker through the Washington Filing Portal, the brokerage firm details will be pre-populated.
All surplus lines brokers licensed in Washington must file insurance transactions placed with non-admitted insurers through the Surplus Line Association of Washington as required by RCW 48.15.
A stamping fee is a processing fee charged for each surplus line policy filed with the Surplus Line Association of Washington. The stamping fee is calculated as a percentage of the taxable premium. These fees support regulatory and compliance activities, including reviewing filings, assisting brokers, and maintaining industry reporting. For current rates, see Taxes and Fees.
No, if you will not be making any filings, membership is not necessary.
The Washington Filing Portal is the secure online system used to submit surplus line filings. Access is available only to approved member brokerage firms. If you are already a member and have login credentials, you may access the Washington Filing Portal here. If you are not yet a member, please visit our membership page to learn more about the application process.
You must first be a member of our Association. Filings are submitted electronically through the Washington Filing Portal.
No. The full policy should not be uploaded to the Washington Filing Portal. Instead, please upload the following required documents:
- Policy Declarations, Certificate, or Covernote Declarations, including itemization of premium, policy fees, other applicable fees, state tax, and stamping fee
- Washington Registry Stamp
- Supplemental Declarations Page (if applicable)
- Schedule of Policy Forms and Endorsements
- Service of Suit Endorsement
A surplus lines premium tax is charged on the premium. For current rates, see Taxes and Fees. The brokerage firm is responsible for collecting and remitting the tax through the Surplus Line Association of Washington.
Surplus lines taxes are due March 1 each year. Late filings or payments may result in penalties assessed by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
Risk Purchasing Groups (RPGs) must register with the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (WAOIC). Learn more about the registration instructions and requirements at the WAOIC website.
If you are not planning on filing any more policies in Washington, please contact us and provide your SLA# and current mailing address to request a refund.
Yes. All policies must be filed electronically in the Washington Filing Portal.
Washington Filing Portal user accounts are managed by your brokerage firm’s portal administrator, issued after membership approval by the Surplus Line Association of Washington. Membership is required before Washington Filing Portal credentials can be provided. Learn more about membership.
Go to the Washington Filing Portal login page and click on “Forgot Password” to receive reset instructions via your registered email.
Yes. Please email us at info@surpluslines.org with the updated information, and we’ll assist with the changes.
Yes, a policy number may be modified provided the policy in question has no other registered transactions. If you need to change the policy number on a policy that contains other registered transactions, then a new policy record should be created.
Yes, the number should match identically. Errors in the Washington Filing Porrtal data entry will result in a TAG.
There is an option at the bottom of your Washington Filing Portal home screen titled “Renewal Policy” that allows renewal transactions to be added with a different policy number. Follow the prompts to file the renewal transaction.
A policy transaction is registered if it has been reviewed by the Surplus Line Association of Washington, deemed to be properly reported, and accepted.
Policy fees include all taxable fees associated with a transaction, but does not include the stamping fee.
No. The data your brokerage firm submits through Washington Filing Portal is secure and is only accessible to your brokerage’s Washington Filing Portal users.
Yes. The system generated certification is produced specifically for you by the Washington Filing Portal and contains a barcode that is essential to the processing of incoming filings at the Surplus Line Association of Washington office.
Yes. Please download and complete the Retail Producer Template Excel spreadsheet with retail producers and email it to the Surplus Line Association of Washington at info@surpluslines.org for upload into our database.
Yes. A Washington Filing Portal account is required to submit policy data using the XML Batch Upload Method.
No. Batch submissions must be submitted in XML format, which differs from Excel. XML is a widely used standard for data exchange and provides benefits such as data validation, structural consistency, and platform independence. Please review the Batch Reporting Procedures Manual and coordinate with your technical staff to prepare files in the required format.
The Brokerage Number is a unique identifier assigned to each brokerage by the Surplus Line Association of Washington. This number (also referred to as your SLA Number) can be found on our website on the Brokerage Firm Listing or Insurer Listing.
The Transaction ID is a unique alphanumeric value assigned by the brokerage to identify a specific policy transaction submitted through the Batch Upload Method. It allows previously submitted batch transactions to be updated. When a Transaction ID is submitted, the system checks for an existing transaction with the same ID and, if found, attempts to update that transaction with the new data provided. Transaction IDs should remain unique across all batch submissions.
Yes, provided that the transaction was originally submitted using the Batch Upload Method, a unique Transaction ID was included in the original submission, and the transaction has not already been registered by the Surplus Line Association of Washington.
You will need to work with your IT or technical staff to determine the best way to export data from your system in the required XML format. Several resources are available on our website to assist with this process, including the Batch Reporting Procedures Manual, sample batch files, and the XML schema.
Yes, the system can accommodate both methods. However, it is recommended that you use a single submission method whenever possible to avoid the risk of duplicate filings.
Yes. Transactions submitted via the Batch Upload Method may be manually updated within the Washington Filing Portal. However, the reverse is not supported—transactions entered manually cannot be updated through the Batch Upload Method unless they were originally submitted via batch and include a unique Transaction ID.
There is no limit on how frequently batch files may be uploaded. For organizations submitting a high volume of transactions, we recommend coordinating with the Surplus Line Association of Washington to establish an appropriate submission schedule that supports timely examination.
