To protect the public health, safety and welfare of Florida policyholders in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued Emergency Order 300997-22-EO.
For cancellation notices issued or mailed from September 18 through September 27, 2022, the notice will be withdrawn and reissued on or after November 28, 2022.
Further, Citizens cannot cancel or nonrenew a policy or issue a notice of cancellation or nonrenewal between September 28 and November 28, 2022.
Coverage under policies subject to the emergency order is extended through November 28, 2022. Premium for the extension of coverage, which must be paid, will be billed after November 28.
Citizens is in the process of identifying its policyholders impacted by the emergency order. These policyholders will receive a notice in the mail (and an email for those who have an email address on file) advising how the order affects their coverage with Citizens.
Your affected customers’ policies already have been reinstated or their cancellations rescinded. If you intend to keep their policy with Citizens, any premium amounts due must be paid no later than November 28, 2022, to ensure continued coverage. Citizens will resume cancellations for nonpayment after November 28.
The order is not applicable to:
New-business policies effective on or after September 28, 2022
Unbound submissions
Policyholder-requested cancellations
Policies assumed in our depopulation program
In addition to the items outlined above, for policies subject to the emergency order, any act that the policyholder was required to perform on or after September 28, including the transmission of information or funds, is now extended to November 28.
The emergency order also references the Florida law that prevents insurers from nonrenewing or cancelling a personal residential or commercial residential policy with damages/claims from a hurricane for at least 90 days after the dwelling or residential property has been repaired. Exceptions apply.
Notes
A policy note will be added to PolicyCenter® reflecting any action taken.
A copy of the notice sent to policyholders regarding the extension of coverage will be added to PolicyCenter.
If you have questions or believe that a customer impacted by this emergency order was not identified by Citizens, call 888.685.1555 and an underwriter will review the file.
Agents who have been identified as having impacted new-business rescissions will be contacted by their Citizens Agency Field Manager to determine if their customer still desires coverage.
Agency Field Managers will work with agents who have customers that were nonrenewed due to Property Insurance Clearinghouse offers to determine if the policy is eligible to remain with Citizens.
Citizens will send further communications before we resume cancellations on November 29, 2022.
Log in to the Agents website and select FAQs on the top menu. Enter Emergency Order into the Search field for more details about Citizens’ handling of impacted policies.
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.
