A surplus line broker sells insurance products for insurance companies that are not admitted in Washington state. 

Surplus line broker licensing fees

Review the fees for your license category.

Get your surplus line broker individual or business-entity license

It's important to understand the different requirements when you're applying for a license to do business in our state.

Individual licenses — resident and non-resident

To get licensed in Washington state, you'll need to:

  1. Hold an active producer license with the property and casualty lines of authority. Resident applicants need to hold a Washington state license; non-residents need to have an active license in their home state. Non-residents will also need to hold a surplus lines broker license in their home state.
  2. Schedule and pass your exam if you're applying for a resident license. This is not required for individual non-resident licenses.
  3. Apply for your license online.
  4. If you're applying for a resident license, you'll need to have your fingerprints taken if your last set is more than a year old. There are no fingerprint requirements for non-resident licenses.

Business entity licenses — resident and non-resident

If you're applying for a business-entity license, you'll need to:

  1. Hold an active producer license with the property and casualty lines of authority. Resident applicants need to hold a Washington state license; non-residents need to have an active license in their home state. Non-residents will also need to hold a surplus lines broker license in their home state.
  2. Apply for your surplus license online.

All licenses

Surplus line policy data must be submitted monthly to the Surplus Line Association of Washington by all licensees:

  1. Become a member of the Surplus Line Association of Washington.
  2. Submit surplus line policy data to the Surplus Line Association of Washington.

Resources to help you prepare for your individual resident license exam

Start by reviewing the exam content outline (PDF 83.64KB). This should help you determine where to focus your studies.

Law and rules

You'll want to be familiar with the following regulations:

Insurance company annual statements

It's a good idea to make sure you're familiar with the information on an insurance company annual statement (PDF 3.83MB), especially the sections pertaining to financial security.

There are 25 items on the surplus line broker exam addressing financial security topics. Topics include:

  • Annual statements (purpose of insurance company annual statements, including Sections and Assets)
  • Liabilities surplus and other funds
  • Underwriting and investment exhibit
  • Schedule D
  • Jurat page
  • General interrogatories
  • Summary investment schedule
  • Schedule T
  • Schedule F
  • Five-year historical data
  • Schedule Y
  • Schedule P

Insurance Regulatory Information Systems (IRIS)

IRIS ratios are a topic featured in the exam. There are 13 ratios. Review pages 13-34 in the Insurance Regulatory Information Systems (IRIS) Ratios Manual to get more familiar with them.

Lloyd's of London

Topics related to this company include:

  • Surplus lines markets
  • London market - Lloyd's brokers, United States trust fund, underwriters and syndicates

Learn more about Lloyd's of London on their website.

Surplus Line Association of Washington

This association offers classes pertaining to all of these topics. If you'd like to attend, visit their website or contact them:

Joy Erven, CEO and Executive Director
600 University Street, Suite 1710
Seattle, WA 98101-1192
Call 206-224-4230
Email Joy