20220811 - Underwriting Guidance and Webinar for Weston Policies - Public
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Weston Property & Casualty Insurance Company was ordered into liquidation by the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit, in and for Leon County, Florida, as of August 8, 2022. The Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) is appointed as Receiver of Weston Property & Casualty Insurance Company, and all policies will be cancelled effective September 7, 2022. For more information, see the order.
Notes:
- DFS issued a Notice to Agent or Broker of Weston Property and Casualty Insurance Company, which informs agents of their responsibilities to provide written notice to Weston policyholders of the DFS receivership and of the cancellation date of their Weston policy effective September 7, 2022. For more information, see the DFS website.
- Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) will mail unearned premium refunds to affected policyholders within 45 to 60 days of the liquidation date.
Agents will be required to submit a new-business application if requesting coverage from Citizens. To support the short time needed to provide coverage for these risks, Citizens has eased some underwriting time frames. More information is below.
Deferral for Required Documents for New-Business Submissions
Agents will either need to submit required documents or a document deferral request for the new business to be issued. Agents are encouraged to submit required documents for all new-business submissions, including proof of repair for any fully repaired damage.
Agents can defer the required documents for new-business submissions for:
- Any available current/expired appraisal (Please attach an expired form if it is the only version available. An updated appraisal will need to be submitted within 90 days of effective date.)
- Roof condition documentation
- Electrical condition documentation (if converting risk from wind-only to Commercial Residential Multiperil)
- Current mitigation form
Wind Loss Mitigation: Agents should apply the discount based on the current form available. If the current form is expired, it still may be provided as a required document. A new form will be required within 90 days to retain the discount.
Submit the Commercial Lines Document Deferral Form for Expedited Submission in lieu of these required documents in PolicyCenter®. This deferral program is available for business effective August 9 through September 23, 2022.
Agents should submit new business for underwriting review as soon as all initial documents, including the document deferral form (if needed), are loaded into PolicyCenter. After the new-business policy is issued, agents must submit all required documents no later than 90 days after the Citizens policy effective date to avoid possible nonrenewal.
Notes
- Agents can submit the required documents to have a nonrenewal rescinded.
- Weston policies written outside the wind pool are not eligible for wind-only coverage with Citizens. The current X-Wind carrier should be contacted to determine if wind coverage can be provided. If not, the risk may be eligible for a Citizens multiperil policy.
Risks with Existing Damage/Open Claims
These will be individually underwritten, and there is no guarantee of coverage. When open claims and/or existing damage is present, an unbound submission for approval should include the following documentation:
- A description of the damage
- Complete photos of the damaged area and the remainder of the building(s) to confirm that there are no other issues with condition
- Date of occurrence of prior claim or damage, along with any available claim documents
- Itemized list and/or estimate of the damage
- Details on any temporary repairs that have been made, including photos
- Projected date for repair, along with a signed contractor agreement, if available
- For open claims, the current status of the claim and the expected resolution date
Entering the Prior Carrier in PolicyCenter
When submitting a new-business risk into PolicyCenter, agents must follow the steps below to select the appropriate prior-carrier information:
- Create a new account and enter eligibility information.
- On the Policy Info screen, enter information regarding the prior policies.
- In the Reason Submitted to Citizens drop-down list, select: Insolvent Carrier.
- On the Risk Analysis screen, select Add, then enter the first few characters of the carrier’s name, and select Search.
Result: The search results display. - In the search results, select 202707 for the Carrier Id and Weston Insurance Company for the Carrier Name.
- Complete the remaining fields: Policy Number, Expiration Date and Cancel or Non-Renewal Reason.
Resources
For more details, log in to the Agents site and select:
-
Training > Live Education to register for a webinar from 1-2 p.m. August 15, 2022, for Commercial Lines specific to Weston policyholders. You also can register here.
Note: For registration details, agents can refer to FAQs 4081 and 4237.
- Training > Citizens Essentials for online webinar recordings to help you navigate the new-business submission process and service your customers:
- Citizens Essentials 5: Commercial Residential
- Citizens Essentials 6: Commercial Nonresidential
- Training > Commercial Job Aids to access:
- New-Business Submission Guide
- Uploading and Linking Documents
- Commercial Lines Valuation Requirements
- Required Document Guides (by policy form on the right-hand side)
- FAQs on the top menu. Enter +document +deferral in the Search field.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact Citizens’ Customer Care Center weekdays, 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET, 888.685.1555.
Legal Disclaimer
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.