E&S Insurance in North Dakota: Classes, Coverage & Quoting Guide
Pathpoint offers 10 Excess and Surplus (E&S) product lines in North Dakota covering 66+ class codes, including LRO, Contractors, and Monoline Property. 77.6% of submissions receive an instant, bindable quote, returned automatically as soon as an agent submits complete risk details, no underwriter review required. The platform partners with 9 carriers, handles North Dakota's surplus lines compliance automatically, including a 1.75% tax calculated at checkout and diligent search documentation prepared as part of binding, with an average bound premium of $3,765 across all product lines.
Key Takeaways
- 10 Excess and Surplus (E&S) product lines covering 66+ class codes in North Dakota
- 77.6% of submissions receive an instant, bindable quote, returned automatically as soon as an agent submits complete risk details
- 9 carrier partners active in North Dakota, including Markel, The Hartford, Crum & Forster, and Nautilus
- Surplus lines tax of 1.75%, calculated and filed automatically at bind
- Average bound premium of $3,765 across all North Dakota product lines
What E&S product lines can I quote in North Dakota?
North Dakota agents on Pathpoint can currently quote 10 E&S product lines covering 66+ class codes. Contractors carries 42 class codes, LRO carries 11, Restaurants carries 7, Contractors Excess carries 5, Manufacturing carries 3, LRO Excess and Vacant Building carry 2 each, and Vacant Land carries 1. LRO leads bind volume with 18 bound policies in the trailing 12 months, followed by Contractors at 11 and Monoline Property at 10. All three carry strong appetite, with LRO and Contractors each clearing account quote rates above 90%.
Eight of the 10 product lines, 80%, are instant-quotable: LRO, Contractors, Monoline Property, Restaurants, Contractors Excess, Vacant Building, Manufacturing, and LRO Excess. The remaining two, Monoline Wind and Vacant Land, are referred to Pathpoint's brokerage team for manual placement, since neither line generated a bind in the trailing 12 months. Referred submissions across North Dakota typically clear within about 1.6 hours, the median turnaround for the state's referred accounts, and agents submit and track a referred risk through the same platform workflow as an instant-quotable one.
How fast can I get an E&S quote in North Dakota?
77.6% of North Dakota account submissions on Pathpoint receive an instant, bindable quote, returned automatically as soon as an agent submits complete risk details, with no underwriter review required. In the trailing 12 months, 111 of 143 North Dakota account submissions cleared this way. For a clean, single-submission account, the median time from submission to instant quote is about 14 seconds.
Submissions that fall outside instant-quote appetite are referred to Pathpoint's brokerage team, which reviews the account manually and typically resolves it within 1.6 hours, the median across North Dakota's referred submissions. Agents submit once and track status from the same dashboard regardless of path, then receive policy documents the same way once the account binds. There is no separate broker relationship to manage and no extra paperwork for a referred risk, only a brief wait for the brokerage team to finish its review.
Which carriers are available in North Dakota?
Nine carriers quoted North Dakota risks on Pathpoint in the trailing 12 months: Ategrity, Baleen Specialty, Centrex, Crum & Forster, Markel, Nautilus, The Hartford, Vave, and Westchester. Pathpoint's data does not classify each of these carriers as a domestic surplus lines insurer versus a Lloyd's of London syndicate, since several write both types of paper, so that split is not published here. Instead, the platform evaluates appetite carrier by carrier, weighing class of business, location, risk size, and loss history before routing a submission.
Coverage spans all 10 product lines active in North Dakota: LRO (11 class codes), Contractors (42), Restaurants (7), Contractors Excess (5), Vacant Building (2), Manufacturing (3), LRO Excess (2), and Vacant Land (1). Pathpoint can quote many of these classes across multiple carriers at once, letting an agent compare terms from a single submission without re-keying an application into separate carrier portals, and the carrier panel continues to expand as new appetite opens in North Dakota.
Where is Pathpoint's appetite strongest in North Dakota?
Pathpoint sorts North Dakota product lines into three appetite tiers based on account quote rate. Five lines carry strong appetite: LRO (94.4% account quote rate), Contractors (93.9%), Restaurants (80.0%), Manufacturing (100%), and LRO Excess (100%). Strong appetite means a North Dakota submission in these lines is the most likely to come back with a quote. LRO and Contractors also lead bind volume, with 18 and 11 bound policies respectively in the trailing 12 months, making them the most reliable starting point for a North Dakota submission.
Three lines sit in the active tier: Monoline Property (55.8% account quote rate), Contractors Excess (50.0%), and Vacant Building (50.0%). Active-tier lines quote regularly, though an agent should expect more submissions to fall outside appetite than in the strong tier. Two lines, Monoline Wind and Vacant Land, are in the emerging tier, each with a 0% account quote rate and no binds in the trailing 12 months. Pathpoint is actively building carrier relationships in these emerging lines to convert more North Dakota submissions into binds.
What are the surplus lines requirements in North Dakota?
North Dakota's surplus lines premium tax is 1.75%, applied to policies Pathpoint places outside the admitted market. North Dakota does not operate a surplus lines stamping office, so there is no stamping fee and no separate stamping submission on any placement. Pathpoint files all required North Dakota surplus lines documentation electronically as part of binding, which means the retail agent does not manage any filing step, track a state deadline, or remit the tax on their own. The 1.75% tax is calculated at checkout and shown before the account binds.
North Dakota's diligent search requirement was not available from Pathpoint's data warehouse for this page, so agents should confirm the current standard with the North Dakota Insurance Department before relying on it. Pathpoint still documents each placement as part of binding and calculates the 1.75% tax automatically at checkout. Filing follows the NRRA (Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act) home state method, meaning North Dakota, as the insured's home state, governs tax and compliance regardless of where the risk's property sits.
- Surplus Lines Tax
- 1.75%
- Stamping Office
- None
- Diligent Search
- Unknown (verify with ND Insurance Department)
- Filing Method
- Home state
How does quoting E&S on Pathpoint work in North Dakota?
Quoting E&S in North Dakota on Pathpoint follows four steps. First, an agent submits risk information through the platform. Second, Pathpoint routes the submission to carriers and returns a quote, instantly for 77.6% of submissions and within about 1.6 hours for referred accounts. Third, the agent binds the account, with North Dakota's surplus lines filings handled electronically since the state has no stamping office. Fourth, Pathpoint issues policy documents and applies the 1.75% surplus lines tax at checkout.
Agents do not need a surplus lines license to place business in North Dakota through Pathpoint. Pathpoint serves as the surplus lines broker of record on every placement, holding the license and taking on the compliance work, so the retail agent earns a standard commission on each bound policy without any of the filing burden. Creating a Pathpoint account carries no cost, and submitting a risk is also free, so an agent can test appetite on a North Dakota account without committing anything.
What does E&S insurance cost in North Dakota?
Average bound premium across all North Dakota product lines is $3,765. Among the state's top three product lines by bind volume, LRO averages $3,726 with a typical range of $1,785 to $4,405, Contractors averages $2,312 with a typical range of $738 to $3,500, and Monoline Property averages $4,274 with a typical range of $2,605 to $4,994. Those ranges reflect the middle half of bound North Dakota policies in each line. Actual premium on any single account depends on class of business, limits selected, risk size, and loss history.
E&S premiums generally run higher than admitted market rates because surplus lines carriers take on risks that standard carriers decline, including higher hazard classes and thinner loss histories. Pathpoint's multi-carrier platform quotes a submission across its panel of 9 carriers, which keeps North Dakota pricing competitive within that surplus lines context because carriers with appetite for the class are effectively competing for the account. Exact pricing is confirmed only once a risk is quoted, and an agent takes on no obligation to bind after receiving a quote.
There is no fee to use Pathpoint. Creating an account, submitting risks, and receiving quotes all cost nothing, and the retail agent earns a standard commission on every bound policy. The 1.75% North Dakota surplus lines tax is calculated automatically and applied at checkout, then passed through to the insured as part of the total premium, so neither the agent nor the agency absorbs it. The full cost of a placement is visible before the agent commits to binding the account.