Please see the important announcement from the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.

The Commissioner has advised that they are adopting the SLIP+ for States platform for the reporting and payment of Surplus Lines taxes on all Surplus Lines policies and endorsements on policies effective January 1, 2026 and later.

Once we receive additional clarification from the state, we will update our tax calculator to accommodate these changes.

Effective August 1, 2025 the diligent search form (SFN 4818) is no longer required.

Under SB 2374 , a risk may be placed with a surplus lines carrier if:

• The risk is referred to the surplus lines producer by a North Dakota–licensed insurance producer, or
• The surplus lines producer knows that the full amount or type of coverage is not available from insurers admitted in North Dakota (if any are writing that line).

Should you have any questions, please let us know.

We’ve updated our SLIP account to change our Third Party Filer login to Kayla Eppley.

As a result, you may receive an email from SLACAL with the subject line “SLIP Account Change Request - Surplus Line Association of California” referencing a change for the previous filer (Aimee Ockenfels or Lara York). No action is required—please disregard that message.

If you have any issues with the Filer login or questions, please contact InsCipher Support at support@inscipher.com.

Upon further clarification from the Virginia Bureau of Insurance, the SLB-9 Form (State Stamp Wording) must be either:

• Attached to all new and renewal policies, or
• The full information contained in the SLB-9 must be clearly stamped on the policy.

Please note, this requirement does not apply to endorsements.

Please see the August Newsletter from the Surplus Line Association of Washington, which includes an important action item regarding the Annual Membership Fee Statements.

Be on the lookout for this invoice in your SLIP inbox, as brokers are responsible for maintaining their membership in good standing. Please note that we are unable to complete this process on behalf of brokers.

If you have any questions, please contact the Washington SLA at info@surpluslines.org.

We have received further clarification from the North Carolina Surplus Lines Association (NCSLA).

Effective immediately, please file all Non-RPG New and Renewal master policies with zero premium in SLIP using a premium amount of $0.01.

Should you have any questions, please let us know.

Please review the following important announcement below from OPTins regarding upcoming changes to the login process.

OPTins will soon be implementing OKTA as part of its authentication system, which may require action on your part to ensure continued access. In summary,

1. Users should expect to receive an email from OPTins/OKTA that their account is set up - please follow the prompts in the email. You may be asked to set up additional 2-step verification for logging in

2. Once you are set up for OKTA, you will want to add your OKTA credentials to the Password Manager in the portal by selecting the web description "OPTins-OKTA".

3. Once you are logged in to OKTA, you can access OPTins from the home screen and open OPTins as usual.

Notice from OPTins:

To improve both security and user experience, we're updating the OPTins login process to use Okta, a secure Single Sign-On (SSO) platform with built-in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

What's Changing?

The production release is scheduled for the evening of Thursday, July 31st.

IMPORTANT: When users log in on Friday, August 1st, your previous credentials will no longer work. You will now use your Okta credentials to log into OPTins.

• If you already use NAIC Okta, no action will be required.
• Individuals who use another NAIC system may already exist in Okta and no further action will be needed.
• Individuals who do not already exist in Okta will receive a “Welcome to Okta” email with instructions to finalize their account setup. All users that receive the Okta welcome email must take action, even if they will not use the OPTins system in the near future.
• A small number of users with two or more OPTins accounts may have additional impact and will be contacted separately.

If you are not using Okta yet, we'll create a login for you using your email address tomorrow, Wednesday, July 30th. You'll then receive an email with an activation link that will be valid for 7 days.

With the move to Okta, users will benefit from:

• One secure login: All your OPTins usernames will be consolidated under a single Okta ID - no more managing multiple logins.
• Stronger security: Okta's Multi-Factor Authentication adds extra protection, even if your password is compromised.
• Simplified access: One login gives you access to both legacy and modernized OPTins, as well as other NAIC-authorized systems connected via Okta.

Please note that action is required. If you received a Welcome to Okta, email, please complete the steps. If you have questions, please contact us at optinshelp@naic.org.

OPTins Support Team

Please review the recent update sent from SLIP+ concerning the processing of Wyoming tax payments within the SLIP+ system.

This is a follow-up on the temporary issue affecting Wyoming tax payments in SLIP+. This disruption is the result of a technical issue with the state’s banking partner.

At this time, Wyoming tax payment drafting remains temporarily disabled. However, all payment data submitted through SLIP+ between July 1–15, 2025, was successfully received and recorded. Once the bank-side issue is resolved, payments for that period will be drafted as intended.

Please note, no penalties will be assessed for these delays.

We are actively monitoring the situation and will notify you as soon as payments are re-enabled in SLIP+.

If you have any questions, please contact SLIP+ staff at 877.267.9855 or by email at info@slipplus.com.

OPTins has released the following notice regarding upcoming changes to their login process:

OPTins - Notice - Update to Login Process

Please note that this is an informational update, and no immediate action is required. Additional notifications will be sent as the rollout date approaches.

To improve both security and user experience, we're updating the OPTins login process to use Okta, a secure Single Sign-On (SSO) platform with built-in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This change will begin rolling out in late summer.

What's Changing?

With the move to Okta, users will benefit from:

• One secure login: All your OPTins usernames will be consolidated under a single Okta ID - no more managing multiple logins.
• Stronger security: Okta's Multi-Factor Authentication adds extra protection, even if your password is compromised.
• Simplified access: One login gives you access to both legacy and modernized OPTins, as well as other NAIC-authorized systems connected via Okta.

Until the transition period, existing OPTins users will continue to log into OPTins legacy with their existing logins.

• If you already use OKTA, no action will be required.
• If you are not yet using OKTA, we'll create a login for you using your email address next Wednesday, July 23rd. You'll then receive a temporary password that will work for 24 hours.

Look out for an email with additional details next week.

Please note that this is an informational update, and no immediate action is required.

SLIP+ for States has released the following notice regarding a banking issue currently affecting the processing of Wyoming tax payments:

We want to make you aware of a temporary issue impacting Wyoming tax payments in SLIP+. Due to a banking issue, Wyoming payments in SLIP+ are currently disabled. The state is actively working with its bank to resolve the matter.

As a result, any Wyoming tax payments submitted between July 1–15, 2025, were not drafted from your account. However, we have received all necessary payment data for that window, and once the issue is resolved, payments will be drafted accordingly.

We will notify you as soon as Wyoming tax payments are re-enabled in SLIP+. Thank you for your patience.

If you have any questions, please contact SLIP+ staff at 877.267.9855 or by email at info@slipplus.com.