On May 19, 2026, the Connecticut General Assembly passed Substitute House Bill No. 5373, “An Act Concerning the Insurance Department’s Recommendations for Revisions to the Insurance Statutes” (the Act), which became Public Act No. 26-69. The Act represents a broad amendment to the Connecticut Insurance Code including amending, among others, statutes regulating service of process, license suspension, and premium tax assessments. The most consequential change for the surplus lines market is the amendment of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 38a-741(b) effective October 1, 2026, which repeals Connecticut’s longstanding diligent-effort (also referred to as “diligent search”) requirement for surplus lines placements and replaces it with an annual reporting regime administered by the insurance commissioner.
Read More Connecticut Moves Beyond Diligent Effort: HB 5373
Florida Clears the Way for Commercial Surplus Lines Placements
On March 4, 2026, the Florida Senate approved Senate Bill 1028 (SB 1028), introduced by Senator Joe Gruters, which would establish both an admitted and a surplus lines clearinghouse for Citizens Property Insurance commercial policies. SB 1028, and its companion House Bill 943, were introduced on December 30, 2025, and have quickly made their way through both houses of the legislature. The Florida Legislature created Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), a nonprofit windstorm and general property insurer of last resort, in 2002.[1]
Read More Florida Clears the Way for Commercial Surplus Lines PlacementsWhen Surplus Lines Brokers Are Off the Hook: Connecticut Department Issues Bulletin on New Diligent Effort Exception
On October 10, 2025, the Connecticut Department of Insurance (the Department) issued Bulletin SL-6 (the Bulletin) to restate the requirements generally applicable to surplus lines placements, and to advise that the diligent effort exception established by Public Act 25-87, effective October 1, 2025, only applies to surplus lines brokers when they procure insurance coverage through an unaffiliated wholesale broker. The Bulletin additionally supersedes and rescinds Connecticut Bulletins SL-3 and SL-5.
Read More When Surplus Lines Brokers Are Off the Hook: Connecticut Department Issues Bulletin on New Diligent Effort ExceptionNew York Amends Voidable Transactions Law for Application to Federal Home Loan Banks
On September 26, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York signed into law AB 5600 (the Bill), which amends N.Y. Ins. Law §7425 to address the treatment of voidable transfers involving Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs), as well as the conduct of parties to delinquency proceedings against New York domiciled insurer-members of an FHLB. FHLBs are government-sponsored entities that lend to members on a fully secured basis at a low interest rate. According to the legislative findings accompanying the Bill (the Legislative Findings), FHLBs were created during the Great Depression to provide easy liquidity for banks and insurance companies and to provide a stabilizing mechanism in times of economic uncertainty.[1] Insurance companies and depository institutions must apply for membership, subject to approval by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and purchase a certain amount of stock in the FHLB to avail themselves of member benefits.[2]
Read More New York Amends Voidable Transactions Law for Application to Federal Home Loan Banks