Basis of Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Adopted Accounting Guidance

Adopted Accounting Guidance

In January 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments – Overall (Subtopic 825-10):  Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.  This guidance requires fair value measurement for equity investments (not including those that result in consolidation of the investee or use the equity method of accounting) and the recognition of changes in fair value to be presented as a component of net income.  The guidance also revises the disclosure requirements related to fair value changes of liabilities presented in comprehensive income, eliminates disclosure related to the methods and assumptions underlying fair value for financial instruments measured at amortized cost, and simplifies impairment assessments for equity investments without readily determinable fair values.  The adoption of this new guidance in the first quarter of 2018 resulted in an immaterial decrease in net income of $390 thousand or a $0.02 decrease in our diluted earnings per common share.  At December 31, 2017, equity investments were classified as available-for-sale on the Company’s balance sheet.  However, upon adoption, the updated guidance eliminated the available-for-sale balance sheet classification for equity investments.  

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09 (Topic 606): Revenue from Contracts with Customers.  The guidance revises the criteria for revenue recognition and requires that the revenue recognized reflect the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that represents the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.  The standard was effective for us in the first quarter of 2018.  The adoption of the new guidance had no impact on the Company's reporting and disclosure of net premiums earned, net investment income or net realized gains and losses, as these items are not within the scope of this new guidance. The remaining revenue sources are immaterial.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220).  This ASU provided new guidance on reclassification from Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”) of tax effects related to the recently passed tax reform legislation (the “Tax Act”).  The guidance gives entities the option to reclassify to retained earnings tax effects related to items in accumulated OCI deemed to be stranded as a result of tax reform.  The guidance was effective for us in the first quarter of 2018 and was applied retrospectively.  The Company’s policy for releasing income tax effects from accumulated OCI was the individual securities approach for available-for-sale securities.  The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

In December 2017, the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 118 which provided guidance on accounting for tax effects of the Tax Act.  Among many changes of the Tax Act which affected Property and Casualty Insurers, the Tax Act required property and casualty taxpayers to discount loss reserves based solely on IRS factors and no longer by reference to historical payment patterns.  As the IRS has yet to release the 2018 discount factors, we have used the 2017 IRS discount factors to estimate the impact of the change in loss reserve discounting factors and adjusted our deferred tax balances for the impact of these changes.  Once the IRS has released the 2018 loss reserve discount factors, we will complete our analysis and include the effect of the difference in the reserve discount factors in the period the analysis is complete or the impact is reasonably estimable.

Prospective Accounting Guidance

Prospective Accounting Guidance

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842).  Under current guidance for lessees, leases are only included on the balance sheet if certain criteria, classifying the contract as a capital lease, are met.  The new guidance requires a lessee to recognize a lease liability and a right of use asset for all leases extending beyond twelve months.  The new guidance is effective for us in the first quarter of 2019.  Prior comparative periods will not be adjusted.  Adoption of the guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements as the Company does not have any significant leases.  

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses.  The new guidance replaces the methodology of credit loss impairment, which currently, delays the recognition of credit losses until a probable loss has been incurred.  The new guidance requires credit losses for securities measured at amortized cost to be determined using current expected credit loss estimates.  These estimates are to be derived from historical, current and reasonable supporting forecasts, including prepayments and estimates, and will be recorded through a valuation allowance account that will run through the income statement.  The same method will be used for available-for-sale securities, but the valuation allowance will be limited to the amount by which the fair value is below amortized cost.  The standard is effective for us in the first quarter of 2020.  The Company will continue to monitor and evaluate the impact as the implementation date approaches.

All other issued but not yet effective accounting and reporting standards as of September 30, 2018 are either not applicable to the Company or are not expected to have a material impact on the Company.