The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved changes to Citizens’ Commercial Lines policy forms and endorsements in response to Senate Bill 76 (SB 76). The changes outlined below are specific to provisions regarding claims and apply to new-business and renewal policies effective November 1, 2021.

Note: This is not a summary of the bill.

Notice of Property Insurance Claims Changes

The Notice of Property Insurance Claims section of SB 76 indicates:

• A property insurance claim or reopened claim is barred unless reported to the insurer within two years after the date of loss.
• A supplemental claim is barred unless reported to the insurer within three years after the date of loss.
• Definitions of a reopened claim and a supplemental claim are revised.
• For claims resulting from hurricanes, tornadoes, windstorms, severe rain or other weather-related events, the date of loss is the date that the hurricane made landfall or the date that the tornado, windstorm, severe rain or other weather-related event is verified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As a result, Citizens changed the following in all Commercial Lines policy forms:

• The Florida Changes endorsement notifies policyholders that claim, supplemental claim and reopened claim provisions have been added to the policy’s Loss Conditions.
• Tables of Contents reference the changed version of Florida Changes.

Agents and credentialed agency staff can review Edition 11.01.21 of these forms the following ways:

• Access the policy in PolicyCenter® and navigate to the Documents screen to view the new-business or renewal Declarations packet.
• Log in to the Agents website and select Commercial, and then select the appropriate policy type on the left-menu bar. Look for Edition 11.01.21 for each of the forms.

Notice of Change in Policy Terms

Citizens will send policyholders a Notice of Change in Policy Terms beginning with renewal offers effective November 1, 2021. These notices are available in the Policyholder Notices section for each policy form on the Commercial section of the Agents site.