Why it matters for your company
Surplus lines exists for risks that do not fit a filed form: new technology, large or unusual exposures, and loss histories the standard market avoids (NAIC, accessed 2026-09-12). Much of what autonomy and space companies buy is written there.
Freedom of form cuts both ways. A surplus lines policy can be written to name your autonomy stack, and it can equally carry exclusions no filed form would. The policy is only as good as the reading done before it binds.
Related terms
- Admitted insurerAn insurer licensed by a state to write business there, whose rates and forms are filed with that state's regulator. Its policies are backed by the state guaranty fund if the insurer fails.
- Broker of recordThe licensed broker an insurer recognises as representing you on a policy or a submission. A broker of record letter from you moves that authority to a different broker.
- ExclusionA clause that removes a type of loss, activity or property from what a policy responds to. Exclusions sit in the base form and in endorsements, and at claim time they decide the outcome more often than the coverage grant does.
Sources
- 01NAIC, surplus lines insurance topic page, accessed 2026-09-12