The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved updates to Citizens Personal Lines policy forms with an effective date of February 1, 2023. Citizens is amending its new and renewal business policy forms to current industry standards and to address emerging issues and new laws. The major updates are outlined below and in the Notice of Change in Policy Terms.
A new endorsement that attaches to Personal Lines policies offers a new alternative dispute resolution option. The endorsement allows either the policyholder or Citizens to demand resolution of a disputed claim, other than a sinkhole claim or a claim within Citizens’ Managed Repair Contractor Network Program, by the State of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH). This new process will benefit the policyholder by reducing the time it takes to resolve a dispute.
Notes:
The format of the endorsement varies as necessary to permit attachment to the specific policy form, but the substantive provisions of the endorsement are the same for each policy type.
The following updates have been made to the policies and endorsements for all Personal Lines policies unless it is indicated for a specific policy type. All policy and endorsement edits are made to better express and amend policy provisions.
Citizens will send policyholders a Notice of Change in Policy Terms with renewal offers. The content of each notice varies by policy form. These notices are available in the Policyholder Notices section for each policy form on the Personal section of the Agents site.
For more information, log in to the Agent site, go to the Personal section, click on PR-M or PR-W on the left side of the page, then choose the policy type.
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.