EMPA Surcharge Exemption Bulletin

We are pleased to inform you that effective October 1, 2025, the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office (FSLSO) will be implementing enhancements to the FSLSO SLIP+ system. One notable change is the introduction of a new functionality that allows FSLSO SLIP+ users to designate a policy as exempt from the Emergency Management Preparedness and Assistance (EMPA) surcharge for multi-insurer (layered) policies.

It is important to note that this exemption pertains to situations where the EMPA surcharge has already been levied on another participating insurer's policy or transaction within the layered policy structure. Users are reminded to utilize this option selectively, specifically for policies where each insurer holds a distinct policy number and the EMPA surcharge has been applied to another insurer's policy within the same layered arrangement.

Please be advised that the exemption feature must not be misused to evade the payment of the EMPA Assessment. Any misuse or abuse of this option will be subject to investigation and potential repercussions, including but not limited to, referral to the Florida Department of Financial Services, and the risk of suspension or revocation of your insurance license(s).

FSLSO is mandated by Florida Statute 252.372 to collect the EMPA surcharge on all Florida surplus lines insurance policies that meet the assessment guidelines.

We appreciate your attention to this important regulatory update and your continued cooperation in maintaining compliance with statutory requirements.

Detailed instructions for FSLSO SLIP+ Batch and API will be made available in SLIP+ on the Batch Files page under the Batch Submission Documentation section. XML batch filers will be required to change the schema version value to 2.3 with an optional EMPA Exempt field added. There will be an additional mandatory column in CSV, however, the field is optional.

Additionally, instructions for manually updating the policy in SLIP+ will be provided in the SLIP+ Filing Procedures for Agents manual on the Help page. To view the Help page, click the question mark (?) in the upper right corner of SLIP+.

If you have any questions, please contact Agent Services at agent.services@fslso.com or 800-562-4496, option 1.

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Have questions? Contact us at 800.562.4496, option 1 or email agent.services@fslso.com.