Q: What are the details of today’s announcement?
A: Applied Systems, a leading global provider of insurance software, has entered into an agreement with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, a not-for-profit property insurer in Florida. This agreement establishes an initiative to use EZLynx Rating as the system appointed agents will use to accurately assess risk coverage from Citizens and other carriers as part of the standard rate, quote and bind process for personal home insurance.
Q: Who is Citizens Property Insurance Corporation?
A: Citizens was created by the Florida Legislature in August 2002 as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, government entity to provide property insurance to eligible Florida property owners unable to find insurance coverage in the private market. Citizens is funded by policyholder premiums; however, Florida law also requires that Citizens levy assessments on most Florida policyholders if it experiences a deficit in the wake of a particularly devastating storm or series of storms.
Q: Why is this happening?
A: In compliance with Florida Statutes, Citizens must have a clearinghouse program designed to help find private-market insurance company offers before applying for or renewing a property insurance policy with Citizens. To optimize how eligibility determination against the private market is delivered to its appointed agents at the point of sale and renewal, Citizens has selected EZLynx’s frictionless and market-leading rating solution to allow agents to gather quotes from as many carriers as possible while enabling accurate eligibility determination for Citizens’ coverage.
Q: What is the benefit to agents?
A: Through the initiative, all Citizens agents will receive no-cost access to EZLynx Rating Engine to quote home and dwelling fire policies to ensure coverage for the end insured.
Q: What is the product?
A: EZLynx Rating Engine will provide Citizens appointed agents with an easy-to-use comparative rater that delivers real-time Homeowners quotes from as many carriers as possible.
The solution will also deliver:
- Real-time Quoting: The modern quoting experience streamlines data entry and innovates how agents rate, bind, and issue policies from carrier websites.
- Carrier Defaults and Pre-fill: Common carrier fields are pre-filled automatically, speeding up the quoting process.
- Automatic Address Validation: Find addresses faster with Google Maps, and addresses will automatically validate with USPS.
- Accuracy Check-ins: Missing or invalid information identified throughout the quoting process will prompt a notification to the agency of any discrepancies as sections of the application are completed.
- Graph View for Quote Results: Quote results can be quickly compared using color cues to differentiate Auto and Home results (for agents with access to Auto quotes) and to combine quotes from the same carrier.
- Company Scale: With more than 330 carriers across the US and widespread agency adoption, EZLynx Rating Engine delivers the widest connectivity and the most coverage options in the industry.