An audit released this week detailing problems with Citizens, such as poor handling of homeowners' hurricane-damage claims, is timely and gives weight to the industry's call for reform, said Scott Johnson, executive vice president of the Florida Association of Independent Agents.

A key part of the agents' proposal, which is expected to be presented to the Legislature this spring, would restructure Citizens' high-risk account for hurricane-prone areas -- known as the "windpool" -- into an entity that performs only rate analysis.

Private insurers would take over the account's administrative functions, underwriting, policy processing and claims adjustment -- just as they do for policyholders throughout Florida outside the high-risk pool.

The private carriers also would retain as much of Citizens' wind-exposure business and related premium as they might want, Johnson said, and in fact should be required to retain at least 1 percent or 2 percent of the coverage so that the private sector has some "skin in the game," Johnson said.

The agents' proposal, dubbed the Windstorm Coverage Fund, would reduce costs and save about $108 million a year, according to an industry-funded analysis by Vogel Consulting Inc.

The Vogel analysis describes the agents' concept as "promising" and says it might ease some insurers' reluctance to write property insurance in Florida, while reducing underlying costs.

One part of the proposal would require the state to earmark a portion of any sales-tax windfalls -- tax collections generated by rebuilding in storm-damaged areas -- to reduce or eliminate the need for surcharges imposed on all Floridians' homeowners' premiums when Citizens runs out of money to pay damage claims.

That should help make the agents' plan politically palatable, Johnson said, because many home-insurance policyholders throughout Florida either do not understand, or are upset by, the assessments that help offset losses in the high-risk pool.

Gary Landry, a spokesman for the Florida Insurance Council, which represents the carriers, said the group is "considering all options" and working on its own plan but has not endorsed specifics.

However, a number of other powerful business groups are backing the agents' proposed changes, Johnson said, including the Florida Bankers Association and the Florida Association of Realtors.

Marla Martin, a spokeswoman for the Orlando-based Realtors group, said that, while there is "a sense of some support" by Realtors for the overhaul, no formal approval has been granted.

A 55-page audit of Citizens Property Insurance, released Thursday by Florida's Auditor General, outlined deficiencies and operational problems with the state-supported company, from the way it handled hurricane-damage claims to how it hired adjusters to handle those claims after Florida was hit by four hurricanes in less than two months in 2004.

A Citizens' representative said this week that many changes were undertaken to address problems even before the audit's release, but a number of key lawmakers said the findings are serious enough to warrant legislative reforms.

Simms said the current system is broken in many respects, including duplication of services and policies, and the fixes suggested by the independent agents -- the intermediaries between customers and carriers -- are badly needed.

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