The Second Judicial Circuit Court ordered Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company into receivership as of March 14, 2022. All Avatar policies will be cancelled effective 12:01 a.m. on April 13, 2022. For more information, see the order.

After an agent exhausts all other avenues for coverage, Citizens is ready to assist with securing coverage for these risks that meet Citizens’ eligibility guidelines.

Note: Policies renewing prior to April 13, 2022, can be submitted as part of this process.

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 should 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 60 days of effective date.)
• Roof/electrical condition documentation
• Current mitigation form

Wind Loss Mitigation: Agents should apply the discount based on the current form available. If the current form is expired, it may be provided as a required document. A new form will be required within 60 days to retain the discount.

Submit the Document Deferral Form for Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company Policies in lieu of these required documents in PolicyCenter®. This deferral program ends April 28, 2022.

Agents must submit all required documents no later than 60 days after the Citizens policy effective date to avoid cancellation or non-renewal.

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, a 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

Note: Commercial Lines Underwriters may request an existing damage written disclaimer from the applicant.

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:

1. Create a new account and enter eligibility information.
2. On the Policy Info screen, enter information regarding the prior policies.
3. In the Reason Submitted to Citizens dropdown select: Insolvent Carrier.
4. 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.
5. In the search results, select 201552 for the Carrier Id and Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company for the Carrier Name.
6. Complete the remaining fields: Policy Number, Expiration Date and Cancel or Non-Renewal Reason.

Resources

For information on other companies who are making offers to Avatar policyholders, please refer to this memo.

For more details, log in to the Agents website and select:

• 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.