Even as the Florida insurance market continues to rebound and options for private-market coverage expand, many agents and consumers have limited access to the full array of companies writing homeowners insurance in Florida. By expanding access to Florida's growing insurance market, the Property Insurance Clearinghouse is decreasing the number of policies written with Citizens when affordable, comparable private-market coverage is available.
How It Works
All new applicants for the following policy types must be entered into the clearinghouse before a Citizens policy can be purchased:
Multiperil and wind-only homeowners (HO-3 and HW-2)
Multiperil and wind-only condominium-unit owners (HO-6 and HW-6)
Dwelling Property 1 and 3 (DP-1 and DP-3).
Excludes DP-1 and DP-3 tenant contents and condominium-unit policies.
Mobile Homeowners 3 (MHO-3)
Mobilehome Dwelling Property 1 (MDP-1 D)
Only Citizens-appointed agents can request policy quotes through the clearinghouse. If your Citizens-appointed agent believes you are eligible for Citizens coverage, they will enter your information into the clearinghouse before binding coverage with Citizens. Participating companies will review your information and may return offers of coverage through the clearinghouse. In most cases, the results are available immediately. See how the clearinghouse works. (En español)
Your agent will present you with you a quote sheet that will include a side-by-side list of any offers of coverage by participating companies, as well as a quote for Citizens coverage. The quote sheet will indicate which offers are comparable to Citizens and whether any of those offers make you ineligible for coverage with Citizens.
Eligibility
You are eligible* for a Citizens policy if one of the following criteria is met:
No comparable private-market offers of coverage are received.
Comparable private-market offers of coverage are received, but the premiums are more than 20 percent higher than a comparable Citizens policy.
If you are eligible for Citizens, you either may purchase a policy from Citizens or pursue a private-market offer extended through the clearinghouse.
Ineligibility
You are ineligible* for a Citizens policy if:
At least one comparable private-market offer of coverage is received with a premium that is within 20 percent of a comparable Citizens policy
If you are ineligible for Citizens, you may not purchase a policy from Citizens but may pursue any private-market offer extended through the clearinghouse.
Review Your Options
We encourage you to review all coverage options available through the clearinghouse with your agent, as they are your first and best resource for determining the best and most appropriate coverage for your property.
All offers extended through the clearinghouse are valid for five business days. After this time, your agent will need to seek new coverage quotes.
* All risks are subject to approval by Underwriting and must meet all Citizens Underwriting eligibility guidelines, as outlined in Citizens' Underwriting Manuals.
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Citizens Eligibility Requirements
Under Florida law, Citizens may write a new insurance policy only for property that meets one of the following eligibility criteria:
No coverage is available from a Florida-authorized insurance company
Premiums for coverage from authorized insurers are more than 20 percent higher than the premiums for comparable coverage from Citizens
The clearinghouse confirms eligibility for Citizens coverage by seeking private-market offers from participating insurance companies that might not otherwise be readily available to consumers and their agents.
Resources
The following public services also can help consumers and their agents identify available private-market coverage:
