Case Study: Mississippi
Surplus Lines Association

There’s more than one reason that Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney holds the MSLA in such high regard.

In the summer of 2007, the Mississippi legislature passed a law creating a new assessment on certain surplus lines policies. The MSLA systems and processes were not up to the task, yet the law required the new assessment to be in place in January 2008. MSLA turned to the Surplus Lines Automation Suite to meet this challenge.

In four short months, MSLA implemented the Surplus Lines Automation Suite—SLIP and RAPID—to upgrade its processes and to establish a solid technological infrastructure to prepare for future challenges.

To call the project a success just scratches the surface.

Aside from meeting the deadline for collecting the new taxes, the MSLA was now running their operation with the state-of-the-art surplus lines filing and regulatory software system. Filing accuracy and timeliness improved dramatically. Regulatory processes were simplified and streamlined.

In the second year, the MSLA implemented the SLAS Variance Analysis module – a powerful auditing tool that compares broker-submitted data with comparable insurer data. By automating a process that had relied upon manual oversight, the Association has increased their auditing efficiency and set a standard for filing compliance that is a model in the surplus lines industry.

The successes of the past three years have established the MSLA as one of the surplus lines community’s most admired regulators.