A. A surplus lines licensee or broker is not required to make a due diligence search to determine whether the full amount or type of insurance can be obtained from admitted insurers when the surplus lines licensee or broker is seeking to procure or place nonadmitted insurance for an exempt commercial purchaser, provided:

1. The licensee or broker procuring or placing the surplus lines insurance has disclosed to the exempt commercial purchaser that such insurance may or may not be available from the admitted market that may provide greater protection with more regulatory oversight; and

2. The exempt commercial purchaser has subsequently requested in writing for the surplus lines broker to procure or place such insurance from a nonadmitted insurer.

B. For purposes of this section, the term "exempt commercial purchaser" means any person purchasing commercial insurance that, at the time of placement, meets the following requirements:

1. The person employs or retains a qualified risk manager to negotiate insurance coverage;

2. The person has paid aggregate nationwide commercial property and casualty insurance premiums in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in the immediately preceding twelve (12) months;

3. The person meets at least one of the following criteria:

a.the person possesses a net worth in excess of Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000.00), as such amount is adjusted pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection,

b.the person generates annual revenues in excess of Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00), as such amount is adjusted pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection,

c.the person employs more than five hundred full-time-equivalent employees per individual insured or is a member of an affiliated group employing more than one thousand employees in the aggregate,

d.the person is a not-for-profit organization or public entity generating annual budgeted expenditures of at least Thirty Million Dollars ($30,000,000.00), as such amount is adjusted pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection, or

e.the person is a municipality with a population in excess of fifty thousand (50,000) persons; and

4. Effective on January 1, 2015, and every five (5) years thereafter, the amounts in subparagraphs a, b and d of paragraph 3 of this subsection shall be adjusted to reflect the percentage change for such five-year period in the Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Added by Laws 2011, c. 278, § 12 and Laws 2011, c. 360, § 12. Amended by Laws 2012, c. 45, § 10, emerg. eff. April 16, 2012.

NOTE: Laws 2011, c. 278, § 12 and Laws 2011, c. 360, § 12 created identical sections with the same section number.