Nature of Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Nature of Operations [Abstract]

Nature of Operations [Text Block]

Nature of Operations

Fortegra Financial Corporation (NYSE:FRF) including its subsidiaries ("Fortegra" or the "Company") is a diversified insurance services company that provides distribution and administration services on a wholesale basis to insurance companies, insurance brokers and agents and other financial services companies primarily in the United States. In 2008, the Company changed its name from Life of the South Corporation to Fortegra Financial Corporation. Most of the Company's business is generated through networks of small to mid-sized community and regional banks, small loan companies and automobile dealerships. The Consolidated Financial Statements include the Company and its majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries, including:

• LOTS Intermediate Company

• Bliss and Glennon, Inc.

• Creative Investigations Recovery Group, LLC, sold on July 1, 2011

• CRC Reassurance Company, Ltd.

• Insurance Company of the South

• Life of the South Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Bankers Life of Louisiana

• LOTS Reassurance Company

• LOTSolutions, Inc.

• Lyndon Southern Insurance Company

• Southern Financial Life Insurance Company

• South Bay Acceptance Corporation

• Continental Car Club, Inc.

• United Motor Club of America, Inc.

• Auto Knight Motor Club, Inc.

• eReinsure.com, Inc.

• Pacific Benefits Group Northwest, LLC

• Magna Insurance Company

The Company operates in three business segments: (i) Payment Protection, (ii) Business Process Outsourcing ("BPO") and (iii) Brokerage. Payment Protection specializes in protecting lenders and their consumers from death, disability or other events that could otherwise impair their ability to repay a debt and also offers warranty and service contracts and motor club solutions. BPO provides an assortment of administrative services tailored to insurance and other financial services companies through a virtual insurance company platform. Brokerage uses a pure wholesale sell-through model to sell specialty casualty and surplus lines insurance and also provides web-hosted applications used by insurers, reinsurers and reinsurance brokers for the global reinsurance market.