Citizens to Provide Temporary Coverage for American Superior Policyholders

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation today announced it will dedicate resources to quickly provide temporary coverage for thousands of American Superior policyholders who stand to lose their homeowners insurance.

“Though Citizens is focusing every effort on quickly resolving hurricane claims, we have created a dedicated unit to ensure these Floridians aren’t left without coverage,” Bob Ricker, Citizens’ Executive Director said. “Our application staff members will be working overtime to give American Superior policyholders a quick and seamless transition to Citizens.”

More than 12,000 policyholders of American Superior, recently taken over by the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), are eligible for temporary coverage with Citizens. These consumers suffered damage during the recent storms and are still awaiting repairs. DFS successfully negotiated with North Pointe Insurance Company to take on American Superior policyholders who were not affected by the recent hurricanes or whose homes have been repaired.

Without Citizens’ action to insure the remaining American Superior policyholders, these homeowners would likely have been unable to find replacement coverage, impacting Florida’s mortgage and real estate markets and adversely affecting the state’s economy.

Citizens will accept qualified American Superior policyholders effective Jan. 14. American Superior policyholders whose homes are repaired by this date are eligible for coverage from North Pointe, which charges lower premiums. As the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens is required to charge the highest rates in each county.

Policyholders who obtain a Citizens policy are eligible for coverage with North Pointe once repairs are complete, with no cancellation penalties from Citizens.

Citizens’ American Superior application processing unit will be based in Jacksonville. In addition, Citizens’ application process will be simplified for insurance agents who have more than 50 qualified American Superior policyholders as clients. For these agents, Citizens will accept a copy of each consumer’s cancellation notice from American Superior and a copy of the American Superior policy declaration page in order to process an application for new coverage.

Agents who are not currently appointed to provide coverage through Citizens but have qualified American Superior policyholders should visit www.citizensfla.com for information on qualifying for a Citizens appointment.