The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved updates to Citizens Personal Lines policy forms with effective dates on or after February 1, 2022. The major updates are outlined below.
Application Changes
As announced in the November 29, 2021, Agent Updates Bulletin, Citizens will require Social Security numbers and/or Federal Employer Identification Numbers. To inform applicants of this requirement, Citizens updated all Personal Lines applications with the revised Statement On The Collection of Consumers’ Social Security Numbers section.
As a result of Senate Bill 76, all Personal Lines applications have been updated to reflect Citizens’ rate-increase cap. For 2022, it will be 11% and will increase by 1% annually until the cap reaches 15% in 2026.
The Important Notice Regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Action section has been updated.
Overview of Updated Forms
The following changes apply to all Personal Lines policies:
Citizens has updated the Notice of Privacy Policy and included the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Advisory Notice to Policyholders (IL P 001 01 04) in all Declarations packets.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution has been updated to provide that the parties are responsible to equally pay the reasonable fees and expenses of the appraisal and the mediator.
The Existing Damage exclusion has been updated to clarify that any previous unrepaired damage from a reported claim is not covered.
The Concealment or Fraud condition has been renamed Incorrect Statements Or Representations, Concealment Or Fraudulent Conduct, and the conditions have been amended to clarify that coverage is not provided when:
Incorrect statements or representations are made.
Concealment of facts or engaging in fraudulent conduct occurs.
For HO-3 and DP-3 policies, the Citizens Program Consent Form under the Managed Repair Contractor Network Program has been updated to remove the witness signature line.
Website Changes
Updated forms are available on the Personal section of the Agents website for each policy type.
Notice of Change in Policy Terms
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.
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.
