General Information:

  1. Puerto Rico maintains a list of eligible surplus lines insurers (see Other Comments section #1).
  2. Puerto Rico does not have a Surplus Lines Association.
  3. Puerto Rico does not have an Export List.
  4. Puerto Rico does not have an industrial insured exemption and has not adopted the NRRA exempt commercial purchaser exemption.
  5. Surplus lines tax: 9%, payable by broker.
  6. Puerto Rico adopted NIMA; however, the Board of Directors of NIMA voted on April 28, 2016 to discontinue operations and dissolve the NIMA, Inc. organization. No multistate business, renewal or reinstatement transactions effective on or after October 1, 2016 will be accepted through the Surplus Lines Clearinghouse multistate reporting platform. New, renewal or reinstatement transactions on or after October 1, 2016 with exposure in more than one jurisdiction should be reported directly to the home state’s reporting mechanism.
  7. Puerto Rico does not allow domestic surplus lines insurers in the state.

Eligibility and Filing Requirements (All Insurers):

Puerto Rico no longer imposes a fee, financial, premium or other information from foreign and/or alien insurers for surplus lines eligibility purposes, aside from the eligibility requirements set forth in NRRA.

Types of Insurance Exempted from Requirement that Risk be Procured from an Eligible Surplus Lines Insurer:

Air and ocean marine risks (see Other Comments or Requirements #6).

Other Comments or Requirements:

  1. Puerto Rico surplus lines insurer’s eligibility list is available at: https://ocs.pr.gov/English/Licensees/Insurers/Pages/default.aspx.
  2. When a particular risk cannot be insured in whole or in part with an eligible surplus lines insurer, the surplus lines broker may place the risk with an unauthorized insurer if the insurer submits a $20,000 special deposit with the Secretary of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, through the Commissioner.For such placements the policy must state conspicuously on its face the following recital in red letters: “All or a number of the insurers participating in this insurance have not been authorized to transact business in Puerto Rico nor approved as surplus line insurers by the Commissioner of Insurance of this Commonwealth. The transaction of this insurance by a licensed surplus line insurance broker shall not be construed to mean that the Commissioner of Insurance of Puerto Rico approves of such insurer.”
  3. Surplus lines coverage on medical malpractice business is not limited to be only in excess of authorized coverage, whenever the amount offered by authorized insurers in primary coverage is not enough to apply for excess coverage. In such case, the surplus lines broker may discard the available primary coverage and obtain the entire coverage in the surplus lines market.
  4. Surplus lines policies on medical malpractice are exempted from premium taxes.
  5. Company seeking eligibility status must have been in business at least 5 years.
  6. Air and ocean marine risks subject to surplus lines premium tax provisions.
  7. Puerto Rico requires the surplus lines broker to obtain 5 declinations of coverage from admitted insurers before attempting to place the risk in the surplus lines market. These offerings of coverage are made by the broker by completing a form and using the distribution center which has been established by the Puerto Rico DOI for this purpose. However, the surplus lines broker may consider the risk rejected if he does not receive a reply from such insurers within 5 working days from the date on which the distribution center received the form to make the corresponding distribution. (Rule XXVIII Art.1 and 2).
  8. The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance is currently in the process of amending the Puerto Rico Insurance Code provision in compliance with the nationwide uniform requirements set forth by NRRA.
  9. In ‎2018, 26 L.P.R.A. § ‎‎1007a-1‎ amended Puerto Rico’s Insurance Code to expressly authorize surplus lines brokers to place “commercial property and contingency” cover with eligible surplus lines insurers. In addition, subject to certain limited requirements, § 1007a-1 authorizes surplus lines placements for an “exempt commercial purchaser” as defined by the NRRA.