Citizens will make two updates to its Performance Standards program in 2018 for Personal Lines new-business submissions. This program measures the number of late submissions and binding violations incurred by an agent, because providing our Underwriters with complete and correct submissions enables them to make decisions about risks in a timely manner and helps Citizens provide the fastest service possible.
The updates include:
After a brief hiatus, during which we made system enhancements, Citizens will reimplement the disciplinary action for late submissions bound on or after January 1, 2018.
In addition to the four binding violation types listed in the June 27, 2016, Personal Lines Bulletin, Citizens will expand the types later in 2018 to include:
Failure to upload a premium finance company contract (when applicable)
Incorrect application of credits
Failure to acquire policyholder signature(s) on the application
Notes
The disciplinary thresholds for warning, suspension and termination will not change and are outlined in the December 20, 2013, agent communication.
Violations cannot be:
Removed through corrective action taken after the violation occurs
Reassigned to a licensed customer representative
Citizens will communicate more about the new binding violations later in 2018.
Appeal Process
Agents can appeal violations within:
Five business days from the receipt of the Late-Submission Violation Notice
Five calendar days from the receipt of the Binding Violation - Issued activity
Note: Currently, the binding violation activity on the My Activities screen indicates a window of five business days, but the Dispute button displays for only five calendar days. This system defect will be corrected later in 2018; the Dispute button then will be visible for five business days.
Citizens’ staff has developed many training pieces and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help agents stay in compliance with new-business processes and to avoid disciplinary action. See below for more information.
Resources
Log in to the Agents site, and select Training > PolicyCenter Servicing Policies for the following:
Use the Personal Lines Required Document Guides, which are on the Personal page of the Training section and the PR-M and PR-W pages of the Personal section.
From the website’s top menu, select Search > Search Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and enter the following in the search field:
Late-submission
Binding violation
Withdrawn
Bound Submission
Change Date
Note: Agents also can access the FAQs via the Knowledge Base link at the top-right corner of every screen in PolicyCenter.
Citizens provides agent communications online for historical purposes only, and the communications have not been updated to include any changes that may have been made after publication. Agents can find the latest information by reviewing the applicable underwriting manuals, and by logging in and accessing our FAQs, which are available from the top of any page on our website.
