Citizens Begins Requiring Insurance Clearinghouse

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) - Florida's insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance, will launch another new program seeking to shift policies onto the private market.

As of Monday, Citizens will require new customers to use a property insurance clearinghouse.

The program will require insurance agents to look at offers from four private insurers before allowing someone to buy a Citizen's policy.

In addition, a customer will be ineligible for Citizens insurance if one of the insurers in the clearinghouse charges premiums that are within 15 percent of Citizens' rates.

State legislators authorized the clearinghouse to help reduce the number of people insured by Citizens. Citizens has more than 1 million policyholders.

Other insurers will be added to the clearinghouse later this year. Citizens plans by the middle of 2014 to require that current customers go through the clearinghouse before their policies are renewed.

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