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Organization and Business
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Organization and Business [Abstract] 
Organization and Business
(1) Organization and Business
 
In this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, “21st Century” and the terms “Company”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to 21st Century Holding Company and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

21st Century is an insurance holding company, which, through our subsidiaries and our contractual relationships with our independent agents and general agents, controls substantially all aspects of the insurance underwriting, distribution and claims processes. We are authorized to underwrite homeowners' multi-peril (“homeowners”), commercial general liability, personal and commercial automobile, personal umbrella, following form commercial excess liability, fire, allied lines, workers' compensation and commercial inland marine insurance. We are authorized to underwrite in various states on behalf of our wholly owned subsidiary, Federated National Insurance Company (“Federated National”) and other insurance carriers. Federated National is the resulting entity following the merger of Federated National with and into our other wholly owned subsidiary, American Vehicle Insurance Company (“American Vehicle”), in January 2011. In connection with this merger, the Company, Federated National and American Vehicle entered into a Consent Order with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“Florida OIR”).  We market and distribute our own and third-party insurers' products and our other services through a network of independent agents. We also utilize a select number of general agents for the same purpose.
 
As part of its approval of the merger between Federated National and American Vehicle, the Florida OIR, the Company, Federated National and American Vehicle entered into a consent order with the Florida OIR dated January 25, 2011 (the “Consent Order”) pursuant to which the Company and the resulting company in the merger (the “Merged Company”) have agreed to the following:

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The Merged Company shall retain the following licenses: (010) Fire, (020) Allied Lines, (040) Homeowners Multi Peril, (050) Commercial Multi Peril, (090) Inland Marine, (170) Other Liability, (192) Private Passenger Auto Liability, (194) Commercial Auto Liability, (211) Private Passenger Auto Physical Damage and (212) Commercial Auto Physical Damage.

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The Merged Company shall not write commercial multi peril policy premium without prior approval from the Florida OIR. The Merged Company currently has no commercial multi peril policy premium in force.

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The Merged Company shall surrender its surety license. The Merged Company currently has no Surety policy premium in force.

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The Merged Company shall not write new commercial habitation condominium associations without prior approval from the Florida OIR. The current commercial habitation book of business is approximately $1.4 million of policy premium, which will be renewed pursuant to normal underwriting guidelines.

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The Merged Company has agreed to reduce the total number of its homeowners' policies in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties (the “Tri-County Area”) to 40% of its entire homeowners' book by December 31, 2011 and limit its new homeowners' policies in the Tri-County Area to $500,000 of new policy premium per month. The 40% was achieved through the increased writing of property located outside of the Tri-County Area, the non-renewal of certain policies located within the Tri-County Area, and limiting the writing of new property located within the Tri-County Area. As of September 30, 2011, the Company had approximately 37.4% of its homeowners' policies located within Tri-County Area.

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The managing general agency fees payable by the Merged Company to Assurance Managing General Agents, Inc. (“Assurance MGA”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, which were traditionally 6% of gross written premium, were reduced and will not exceed 4% without prior approval from the Florida OIR. The Merged Company has lowered the fee to 2% of gross written to further support the Federated National's results of operations.  This will have no impact on the Company's consolidated financial results.
 
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The claims service fees payable by the Merged Company to Superior Adjusting, Inc. (“Superior”) were reduced from the traditional 4.5% of gross earned premium to 3.6% of gross earned premium. This will have no impact on the Company's consolidated financial results.

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The Consent Order continues the prohibition on the Company from the payment of dividends until the Merged Company reports two consecutive quarters of net underwriting income.

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The Company provided the Florida OIR with a plan of operation and has agreed to provide certain reports to the Florida OIR on a monthly basis, and agreed to obtain the Florida OIR's approval prior to making any changes to the officers of the Merged Company during the first year following the effective date of the Merger.

The merger of Federated National and American Vehicle will be an ongoing transition, many aspects of which will take effect over time. References to the companies contained herein are intended to be references to the operations of the newly formed Federated National following the January 2011 merger. References to the historical activities of American Vehicle are appropriately identified throughout this document.

Federated National is licensed as an admitted carrier in Florida. Through contractual relationships with a network of approximately 3,000 independent agents, of which approximately 600 actively sell and service our products, Federated National is authorized to underwrite homeowners', fire, allied lines and personal and commercial automobile insurance in Florida. Effective January 26, 2011, Federated National merged with and into American Vehicle and American Vehicle changed its name to Federated National.

American Vehicle, prior to the January 2011 merger, was licensed as an admitted carrier in Florida, and underwrote commercial general liability, and personal and commercial automobile insurance. American Vehicle was also licensed as an admitted carrier in Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas, and underwrote commercial general liability insurance in those states. American Vehicle operated as a non-admitted carrier in Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, and could underwrite commercial general liability insurance in all of these states. Subsequent to the merger, these operations may continue under the newly formed Federated National.

An admitted carrier is an insurance company that has received a license from the state department of insurance giving the company the authority to write specific lines of insurance in that state. These companies are also bound by rate and form regulations, and are strictly regulated to protect policyholders from a variety of illegal and unethical practices, including fraud. Admitted carriers are also required to financially contribute to the state guarantee fund, which is used to pay for losses if an insurance carrier becomes insolvent or unable to pay the losses due their policyholders.

A non-admitted carrier is not licensed by the state, but is allowed to do business in that state and is strictly regulated to protect policyholders from a variety of illegal and unethical practices, including fraud. Sometimes, non-admitted carriers are referred to as “excess and surplus” lines carriers.  Non-admitted carriers are subject to considerably less regulation with respect to policy rates and forms. Non-admitted carriers are not required to financially contribute to and benefit from the state guarantee fund, which is used to pay for losses if an insurance carrier becomes insolvent or unable to pay the losses due their policyholders.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, 80.4%, 11.0%, 4.8% and 3.8% of the premiums we underwrote were for homeowners', commercial general liability, federal flood, and automobile insurance, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2010, 77.6%, 13.6%, 4.3% and 4.5% of the premiums we underwrote were for homeowners', commercial general liability, federal flood, and personal automobile insurance, respectively.

Our business, results of operations and financial condition are subject to fluctuations due to a variety of factors. Abnormally high severity or frequency of claims in any period could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. When our estimated liabilities for unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) are less than the actuarially determined amounts, we increase the expense in the current period. Conversely, when our estimated liabilities for unpaid losses and LAE are greater than the actuarially determined amounts, we decrease the expense in the current period.
 
We are focusing our marketing efforts on continuing to expand our distribution network and market our products and services throughout Florida and in other states by establishing relationships with additional independent agents and general agents. As this occurs, we will seek to replicate our distribution network in those states. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to obtain the required regulatory approvals to offer additional insurance products or expand into other states.

Assurance MGA, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, acts as Federated National's exclusive managing general agent in Florida and is also licensed as a managing general agent in the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Assurance MGA has contracted with several unaffiliated insurance companies to sell commercial general liability, workers compensation, personal umbrella and inland marine insurance through Assurance MGA's existing network of agents.

Assurance MGA earns commissions and fees for providing policy administration, marketing, accounting and analytical services, and for participating in the negotiation of reinsurance contracts. Assurance MGA earns a $25 per policy fee, and traditionally a 6% commission fee from its affiliates Federated National and American Vehicle. During the fourth quarter of 2010, Assurance MGA reduced its' fee, to earn amounts varying between 2% and 4%, which we anticipate will return to 6% at an unknown future date. A formal agreement reflecting this fee modification was executed during January 2011. The commission fee remains at 2%.

We internally process claims made by our insureds through our wholly owned claims adjusting company, Superior. Our agents have no authority to settle claims or otherwise exercise control over the claims process. Furthermore, we believe that the retention of independent adjusters, in addition to the employment of salaried claims personnel, results in reduced ultimate loss payments, lower LAE and improved customer service for our claimants and policyholders. We also employ an in-house legal department to cost-effectively manage claims-related litigation and to monitor our claims handling practices for efficiency and regulatory compliance.

Until June 2011, our wholly owned subsidiary, Federated Premium Finance, Inc. (“Federated Premium”) offered premium financing to our own and third-party insureds. Premium financing has been marketed through our distribution network of general agents and independent agents. Premiums for property and casualty insurance, in certain circumstances, are payable at the time a policy is placed in-force or renewed. Federated Premium's services allow the insured to pay a portion of the premium when the policy is placed in-force and the balance in monthly installments over a specified term, generally between six and nine months. As security, Federated Premium retains a contractual right, if a premium installment is not paid when due, to cancel the insurance policy and to receive the unearned premium from the insurer, or in the event of insolvency of an insurer, from Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (“FIGA”), subject to a $100 per policy deductible. In the event of cancellation, Federated Premium applies the unearned premium towards the payment obligation of the insured. In June 2011, Federated Premium determined to stop providing financing for new policies although it continues to provide financing for existing policies.

Insure-Link, Inc. (“Insure-Link”) was formed in March 2008 to serve as an independent insurance agency. The insurance agency markets direct to the public to provide a variety of insurance products and services to individual clients, as well as business clients, by offering a full line of insurance products including, but not limited to,  homeowners', flood personal and commercial automobile, commercial general liability and workers' compensation insurance through their agency appointments with over fifty different carriers. Insure-Link intends to expand its business through marketing and by acquiring other insurance agencies. There were no other agency relationships with affiliated captive or franchised agents during 2010 or the nine months ended September 30, 2011.