Business Rules

About Batch Filing Business Rules

In addition to adhering to the current XML schema for surplus lines agent/agency or IPC filings, there are certain business rules that must be followed for your submission to be properly processed. Although the business rules addressed here are partially captured in the logic of the XML schema, several are not, due to the limitations of XML schemas. For this reason, we recommend validating your files against the schema prior to submitting.

The following list includes some items that will cause transactions to be questioned (noted as TIQ) and some will cause the entire file to be rejected (noted as REJ). It is highly recommended that you utilize UTF-8 encoding for your files. Please note that a Byte Order Mark (BOM) is not allowed at the beginning of your file.

Brokerage / Agency Node

• The license number of the brokerage/agency must be registered with FSLSO as an active brokerage/agency (REJ).
• The batch filing credentials used to submit the file must be associated with the brokerage/agency (REJ).

Broker / Agent Node

• The license numbers and names of all brokers/agents must be registered with FSLSO as active brokers/agents (REJ).
• Transactions as reported for a specific broker/agent must bear effective dates during periods that said broker/agent is listed with an active license/appointment status.

Policy Node

• The value of the county element must match one of the counties in the schema's Florida County Codes list (REJ).
• In cases of multistate batch files, the Home State field must always be 'FL' (REJ).

Transaction Node

• For transaction types 1, 2, 5, 6, 13, and 14, Net Premium and Policy Fee values must be positive. For transaction types 3, 11, 12, 15, and 16, Net Premium and Policy Fee values must be negative (REJ).
• For transaction type 4 (cancellation), Net Premium and Policy Fee values must be negative or zero and the policy's expiration date field must match the cancellation's effective date (REJ).
• Backout transactions are used ONLY to negate transactions that have already been submitted. For a backout transaction to be considered valid, it must be submitted with the EXACT policy and transaction information that the transaction you are trying to back out contains (REJ).
• A reinstatement transaction (type 6) can be submitted for a policy only when the last transaction (by effective date) was an active cancellation with the same exact coverage code and Insurer (REJ).
• The effective date of a reinstatement transaction (type 6) must be greater than the previous cancellation effective date (REJ).
• If a policy is reinstated with an effective date equal to a previously submitted cancellation, you must use a transaction type 14 (backout of cancellation) (REJ).
• No transactions for a specific policy may be submitted with an effective date between cancellation and a reinstatement (REJ).
• A reinstatement transaction cannot be backed out if there are any subsequent transactions (by effective date) (REJ).
• If a reinstatement transaction is backed out, then the policy expiration date must equal the previous cancellations' expiration date (REJ).
• Coverage codes must be from the allowed coverage codes list (REJ).
• Certain coverage codes require additional Supplemental Homeowners Data (SHD) fields. The applicable coverage codes are 1003, 1006, and all 2000 level coverage codes except 2003, 2013, 2014, and 2015. The SHD fields include Hurricane Deductible, Ws Coverage, Wsp Eligible, Aop Deductible and Primary Amount. SHD fields where not applicable are not allowed (REJ).

State Allocations Node (Multistate Files Only)

• Values for the State Allocation element must be from the State Code Type enumeration list in the schema (REJ).
• The total of all the Premium Allocation elements for a particular transaction's State Allocations node must equal to the transaction's Premium element (REJ).
• The total of all the Policy Fee Allocation elements for a particular transaction's State Allocation node must equal to the transaction's Policy Fee element (REJ).

Insurer Node

• While the name of the Insurer/Carrier is not required in the Insurer node, the NAIC Number must be from the Florida provided list of eligible Insurers or Federally Authorized Insurers (TIQ).
• If the insurer used for a particular transaction is not on the aforementioned lists, you should use "FSLSONAIC" for the NAIC Number element. Note: this transactions will be automatically questioned (TIQ).