republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2018/sb-542.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Surplus lines insurance; establishes criteria for SCC licensing of domestic surplus line insurers."
description: "Establishes criteria for the licensing by the State Corporation Commission of domestic surplus line insurers. A domestic surplus lines insurer is considered a nonadmitted insurer for the purposes of the federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 with respect to risks insured in the Commonwealth. The measure provides that policies issued by a domestic surplus lines insurer are subject to the same taxes and maintenance assessments levied upon surplus lines policies issued by eligible nonadmitted insurers, if the Commonwealth is the home state of the insured. Policies issued by a domestic surplus lines insurer are not subject to protections provided by the Virginia Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association. The measure exempts policies issued by a domestic surplus lines insurer from all statutory requirements relating to insurance rating plans, policy forms, policy cancellation and nonrenewal, and premium charged to the insured in the same manner and to the same extent as a nonadmitted insurer domiciled in another state. The measure provides that a domestic surplus lines insurer is only authorized to write the types of insurance in the Commonwealth that a surplus lines broker may procure with a nonadmitted insurer approved by the Commission."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 542"
citation: "Virginia SB 542 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Insurance", "State Corporation Commission"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark D. Obenshain"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2018-01-09"
last_action: "2018-03-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5b490c6c-5668-411b-890d-2d812dea427b"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+SB542"
source_hash: "267c4874b906b3a000927a724d69f8fdc3d4116fed428b5a0608ce37622adef3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 542 (2018) — Surplus lines insurance; establishes criteria for SCC licensing of domestic surplus line insurers.

Establishes criteria for the licensing by the State Corporation Commission of domestic surplus line insurers. A domestic surplus lines insurer is considered a nonadmitted insurer for the purposes of the federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 with respect to risks insured in the Commonwealth. The measure provides that policies issued by a domestic surplus lines insurer are subject to the same taxes and maintenance assessments levied upon surplus lines policies issued by eligible nonadmitted insurers, if the Commonwealth is the home state of the insured. Policies issued by a domestic surplus lines insurer are not subject to protections provided by the Virginia Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association. The measure exempts policies issued by a domestic surplus lines insurer from all statutory requirements relating to insurance rating plans, policy forms, policy cancellation and nonrenewal, and premium charged to the insured in the same manner and to the same extent as a nonadmitted insurer domiciled in another state. The measure provides that a domestic surplus lines insurer is only authorized to write the types of insurance in the Commonwealth that a surplus lines broker may procure with a nonadmitted insurer approved by the Commission.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB542ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+SB542ER)
2. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18102095D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+SB542)
3. **Senate: Printed as engrossed 18102095D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+SB542E)

## Votes

- Passed House BLOCK VOTE — **100–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed Senate — **38–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Commerce and Labor — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendments — **15–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Mark D. Obenshain — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18102095D `introduction`
- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-01-25** Reading of amendments waived
- **2018-01-25** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2018-01-25** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB542E
- **2018-01-25** Printed as engrossed 18102095D-E
- **2018-01-31** Placed on Calendar
- **2018-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2018-01-31** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-19** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-20** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2018-02-22** Enrolled
- **2018-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2018-02-23** Signed by President
- **2018-02-26** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 26, 2018
- **2018-02-26** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 5, 2018
- **2018-03-05** Approved by Governor-Chapter 205 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5b490c6c-5668-411b-890d-2d812dea427b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).