The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved Commercial Lines rule changes effective April 1, 2023, for new and renewal business. Form changes for new business have been approved effective April 1, 2023, and renewal business effective May 1, 2023. These changes comply with new laws passed by Florida legislators during the December 2022 special session. The updates for rules, forms and systems are outlined below.

Amendment to Rules

As mentioned in the Commercial Lines Bulletin issued December 28, 2022, for Commercial Residential Multiperil (CR-M) and Commercial Residential Wind (CR-W) policies:

• Rule 101: Citizens Eligibility Requirements has been amended to acknowledge the change in threshold that any customer applying for new and renewal Commercial Lines coverage with Citizens must meet (the no-offer-of-coverage or the 20% rule).

PolicyCenter® and Application Changes

In PolicyCenter for CR-M and CR-W new business, the verbiage for Option B on the Policy Info screen under the Policy Details section and Required Documents screen for the Offer of Coverage has been amended to reflect the 20% eligibility rule.

• Applications
  • The Agent’s Certification and Applicant’s Agreement sections for CR-M and CR-W are amended to reflect the new eligibility rule threshold of 20%.
  • The Acknowledgement of Potential Surcharge and Assessment Liability for all Commercial Lines is amended. The update includes:
    • A new requirement for the agent’s signature affirming they have explained potential surcharge and assessment liability to the applicant

Resources

For more information, agents and credentialed agency staff can log in to the Agents website to review resources to help you service your customers:

• Select Commercial > Training > New-Business Submission Guide
• For updated Commercial Lines Underwriting Guidelines:
  • Select Commercial > CR-M or CR-W, and select Manuals.
  • Access the Required Document Guides in the Spotlight section on the right side of the page.
• Select FAQs on the menu at the top of each page. Enter 20% in the Search field.