SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1 – SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Nature of Business

Unico American Corporation is an insurance holding company that underwrites property and casualty insurance through its insurance company subsidiary; provides property, casualty, and health insurance through its agency subsidiaries; and provides insurance premium financing and membership association services through its other subsidiaries. Unico American Corporation is referred to herein as the “Company” or “Unico” and such references include both the corporation and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned. Unico was incorporated under the laws of Nevada in 1969.

During the quarter ended September 30, 2021, Unico took actions to cause its subsidiary, Crusader, to enter into runoff. In connection with its runoff, Crusader began to cease writing new and renewal business and to wind down operations that support the writing of insurance policies. Crusader ceased writing any new insurance policies in September 2021 and will no longer renew policies after December 8, 2021. Crusader issues notices of non-renewal in accordance with the California Department of Insurance (“CA DOI”) rules and regulations for its existing in-force policies to terminate such policies at the expiration of the current policy periods. In August 2021, Unico also discontinued its premium financing operations formerly conducted through its subsidiary American Acceptance Corporation (“AAC”), which activity is reflected on the Statement of Operations under “Other insurance operations.”

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Unico American Corporation and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10‑Q and Rule 8-03 of Regulation S-X for smaller reporting companies. Accordingly, the condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2021. Quarterly condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes in the Company’s 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the SEC on March 31, 2021.

Going Concern

The Company prepared the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements on a going concern basis, which assumes that it will realize its assets and satisfy its liabilities in the normal course of business. Unico has a history of recurring losses from operations, negative cash flows from its operating activities which may continue in the future, and, as a holding company, does not independently generate significant revenue and is dependent on dividends and other cash distributions from Crusader and its other subsidiaries to fund its operations and expenses. Historically, Unico generally received dividends periodically from Crusader, but does not expect to receive any such dividends for the foreseeable future due to prohibitions on dividends imposed by the CA DOI pursuant to the Supervision Agreement (the “Supervision Agreement”), dated as of September 7, 2021, by and between Crusader and the CA DOI, Crusader’s decreased policyholder surplus caused by additional underwriting losses during 2021, and the need to preserve policyholder surplus at Crusader, as discussed further in Note 12. Any continued financial support from Crusader will be at the discretion of the Special Examiner appointed pursuant to the Supervision Agreement (the “Special Examiner”). If the Special Examiner does not permit Crusader to continue to provide significant financial support to Unico, Unico will be unable to continue to fund its continued operations and expenses. Additionally, many of the potential strategic alternatives that the Unico Board is considering will also depend on continued financial support from Crusader to fund transaction expenses and other costs. If Crusader is not permitted to do so, Unico would be unable to pursue such alternatives, which may otherwise be in the best interests of its stockholders. These circumstances raise substantial doubt about Unico’s ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and reclassification of assets or the amounts and classifications of liabilities that may result from the outcome of the uncertainty of our ability to remain a going concern.

Based on Unico’s current cash, and short‑term investments at September 30, 2021, as well as the other factors described herein, there is substantial doubt that Unico will have sufficient cash to meet its operating and other liquidity requirements when they become due during the next twelve months from the date of issuance of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

Unico needs to improve its consolidated operating results, continue to receive financial support from Crusader, and/or raise substantial additional capital to continue to fund its operations. Unico has taken actions to cause Crusader to enter into runoff and to wind down operations that support the writing of insurance policies. To address its liquidity concerns and meet its capital obligations, Unico has announced a review of strategic alternatives and, with the assistance of a financial advisor, is considering multiple alternatives, including, but not limited to, strategic financing, further scaling back, or eliminating some or all of its remaining business operations, expense reductions, reorganization, merger with another entity, filing for bankruptcy or cessation of operations. There can be no assurances that capital will be available when needed or that, if available, it will be obtained on terms favorable to the Company and its stockholders, particularly in light of the effects that the coronavirus COVID-19 (“COVID-19”) pandemic has recently had on the capital markets and investor sentiment. In addition, equity or debt financings may have a dilutive effect on the holdings of Unico’s existing stockholders, and debt financings may subject Unico to restrictive covenants, operational restrictions and security interests in Unico’s assets. Many of these potential alternatives will also depend on continued financial support from Crusader to fund transaction expenses and other costs. If Unico becomes unable to continue as a going concern, Unico may have to dispose of or liquidate its assets and might realize significantly less than the values at which they are carried on its condensed consolidated financial statements. Additionally, Unico may have to write down some or all of its capitalized assets or liquidate some or all of its investments in gross unrealized loss position. These actions may cause Unico’s stockholders to lose all or part of their investment in Unico’s common stock. The condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Concentration of Risks

As of September 30, 2021, the Company’s subsidiary Crusader was licensed as an admitted insurance carrier in the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Crusader’s business remains concentrated in California (100% of gross written premium during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, and 99.9% of gross written premium during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020). During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, approximately 99.9% and 99.7%, respectively of Crusader’s business was commercial multiple peril (“CMP”) policies. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, approximately 99.6% and 99.8%, respectively of Crusader’s business was CMP policies.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company employs a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs for valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (the exit price). Financial assets and financial liabilities recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value are categorized based on the reliability of inputs for the valuation techniques. (See Note 9.)

The Company has used the following methods and assumptions in estimating its fair value disclosures for instruments carried at fair value:

● Available-for-sale fixed securities, equity securities, and short-term investments – Fair values are obtained from widely accepted third party vendors.

The Company has used the following methods and assumptions for estimating fair value for other financial instruments not carried at fair value: 

● Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash – The carrying amounts reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets approximate their fair values given the short-term nature of these instruments

● Long-term certificates of deposit – The carrying amounts reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets for these instruments are at amortized cost which approximates their fair value.

● Receivables, net – The carrying amounts reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets approximate their fair values given the short-term nature of these instruments.

● Accrued expenses and other liabilities – The carrying amounts reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets approximate the fair values given the short-term nature of these instruments.

Use of Estimates in the Preparation of the Financial Statements

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect its reported amounts of assets and liabilities and its disclosure of any contingent assets and liabilities at the date of its financial statements, as well as its reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The most significant assumptions in the preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements relate to losses and loss adjustment expenses. Actual results may differ significantly from the estimates used in preparing the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Supervision Agreement

On September 10, 2021, Crusader and the CA DOI entered into the Supervision Agreement, dated September 7, 2021, at the request of the CA DOI. The Supervision Agreement was requested by the CA DOI because of the CA DOI’s expressed concerns regarding the financial stability of Crusader and the potential effects on Crusader and Crusader’s California policyholders of any potential bankruptcy of Unico. The Supervision Agreement among other things, provides for the appointment by the CA DOI of a Special Examiner to provide supervision and regulatory oversight of Crusader. The Supervision Agreement imposes limitations on Crusader’s ability to take certain actions without the prior written consent of the CA DOI Commissioner (the “Commissioner”), the Special Examiner, or the Special Examiner’s appointed representative. Among the actions that Crusader is prohibited from making without such prior written consent are the following: (i) making payments, engaging in any transaction with or entering into any agreement with, any affiliated or otherwise related person or entity if the cost to Crusader is an individual payment of more than $5,000 or aggregate payments of more than $20,000; (ii) making payments, engaging in any transaction with or entering into any agreement with, any non-affiliated or otherwise unrelated person or entity if the cost to Crusader is an individual payment of more than $5,000 or aggregate payments of more than $20,000; (iii) paying any dividend of any amount; (iv) except as provided in (i) and (ii), making any payments to or on behalf of the Company in connection with any agreement entered into between Crusader and the Company; (v) making any loans to affiliates, officers, directors, stockholders or third parties; (vi) incurring any debt, obligation or liability greater than $5,000; (vii) entering into any new reinsurance contract or treaty or amending any existing reinsurance contract or treaty; (viii) making any material changes in management and essential staffing; (ix) increasing salaries or benefits of officers or directors or making any preferential payment of bonuses or other payments considered legally preferential; and (x) making any other material changes in its normal course of operations, including but not limited to, entering into new lines of business, making major corporate reorganizations, or redomesticating from California. The Supervision Agreement provides that the Special Examiner will meet with Crusader to develop a list of recurring payments under items (i) and (ii) that may not require prior written approval. To date, the Special Examiner has permitted Crusader to provide significant financial support to Unico in the form of reimbursement and/or direct payment of certain operating and other expenses, but there can be no assurance that the Special Examiner will continue to permit Crusader to do so under the Supervision Agreement. If the Special Examiner does not continue to permit Crusader to financially support Unico in the future, Unico will be unable to continue to fund its ongoing operations.On September 13, 2021, the Special Examiner advised Crusader, through its counsel, that a deficiency existed in certain funds that Unifax Insurance Systems, Inc. (“Unifax”), a subsidiary of the Company and an affiliate of Crusader, is required to maintain, in a fiduciary capacity, for Crusader’s benefit. Pursuant to the provisions of California Insurance Code (“CIC”) Sections 1733 and 1734, Unifax is required to hold premium payment funds received from policyholders as fiduciary funds in trust maintained for the benefit of Crusader. The Special Examiner informed Crusader that the CA DOI believed that the deficiency in such fiduciary funds was approximately $3,100,000 as of September 13, 2021. The Company believes that as of September 30, 2021, the amount of such deficiency was $2,452,835. In January 2022 Unico, Crusader, and Unifax agreed, with the pre-approval of the Special Examiner, to transfer a computer system, owned by Unico, to Crusader. Unico contributed the computer system at its book value of $1,779,140 to Unifax, and Unifax in turn contributed the computer system to Crusader at its book value of $1,779,140 as a direct reduction in the amount due to Crusader which resulted in a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the premium trust deficiency. As of March 1, 2022, the premium trust deficiency was $390,567.

Independent Investigation

The Audit Committee of Unico’s Board of Directors retained independent outside counsel, who in turn engaged forensic accountants to work at their direction, to conduct an independent investigation and provide legal advice to the Audit Committee (the “Independent Investigation”), regarding the facts and circumstances relating to, and resulting in, the observed fiduciary funds deficiency. As a result of the Independent Investigation, the Company has determined that, over a period of multiple years, (i) Unifax did not comply with the requirements of the CIC to hold premium trust funds in separate accounts or segregate such funds in accordance with the CIC; (ii) the funds in question were improperly transferred to an operating account of Unifax and were subsequently transferred to a Unico operating account, and (iii) the funds in question were utilized by Unico and its consolidated subsidiaries for general corporate purposes. The independent investigation did not find any evidence that any of such funds had been stolen or used for non-corporate purposes.