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Organization and Business
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS [Abstract]  
ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS
(1) Organization and Business (Section has been updated - please review)
 
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 Holding Company is an insurance holding company that controls substantially all steps in the insurance underwriting, distribution and claims processes through our subsidiaries and our contractual relationships with our independent agents and general agents.

We are authorized to underwrite, and/or place through our wholly owned subsidiaries, homeowners' multi-peril ("homeowners"), commercial general liability, personal and commercial automobile, personal umbrella, fire, allied lines, workers' compensation and commercial inland marine insurance in Florida and various other states.  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.

Our primary insurance subsidiary is Federated National Insurance Company ("Federated National"). Federated National is licensed as an admitted carrier in Florida. 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. 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.  Federated National is also licensed as an admitted carrier in Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas, and underwrites commercial general liability insurance in those states.  Federated National 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.  A non-admitted carrier 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.

In January 2011, we merged Federated National and our other wholly owned insurance subsidiary, American Vehicle Insurance Company ("American Vehicle"), with Federated National continuing the operations of both entities. As part of its approval of the merger between Federated National and American Vehicle, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation ("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 retained 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 will not write commercial multi peril policy premium without prior approval from the Florida OIR. The Merged Company has no commercial multi peril policy premium in force.

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The Merged Company surrendered its surety license. The Merged Company has no surety policy premium in force.

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The Merged Company will not write new commercial habitation condominium associations without prior approval from the Florida OIR. The current commercial habitation book of business is approximately $1.0 million of policy premium, which will renew pursuant to normal underwriting guidelines.

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The Merged Company 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 March 31, 2012, the Company had approximately 28.9% 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 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 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 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.

During the three months ended March 31, 2012, 86.6%, 7.7%, 3.5% and 2.2% of the premiums we underwrote were for homeowners', commercial general liability, federal flood, and automobile insurance, respectively. During the three months ended March 31, 2011, 82.5%, 10.3%, 3.6% and 3.6% 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 us. 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. We market our products and services throughout Florida and in other states by establishing relationships with additional independent agents and general agents. 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 Managing General Agents, Inc. ("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, 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, pursuant to the Consent Order as discussed above, reduced its fee, to earn amounts varying between 2% and 4%, which we anticipate will return to 6% at an unknown future date with approval from the Florida OIR. A formal agreement reflecting this fee modification was executed during January 2011.
 
We internally process claims made by our insureds through our wholly owned claims adjusting company, Superior Adjusting, Inc. ("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, 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.

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 2011 or the three months ended March 31, 2012.