Note 12 - Insurance Reserves

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Insurance Loss Reserves [Abstract]

Liability for Future Policy Benefits and Unpaid Claims Disclosure [Text Block]

12.           Insurance Reserves

The establishment of reserves for estimated losses associated with insurance policies issued by Allegiant and re-insurance agreements issued by StarAmerican are based on actuarially developed studies that include known facts and interpretations of circumstances, including our experience with similar cases and historical trends involving claim payment patterns, pending levels of unpaid claims, product mix or concentration, claim severity, frequency patterns depending on the business conducted, and changing regulatory and legal environments.

The table set forth below summarizes the insurance reserve activity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013. The insurance reserve is included as a component of accrued liabilities in the financial services section of the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2014			2013			2014			2013
	(Dollars in thousands)
Balance at beginning of period	$	49,363		$	47,834		$	49,637		$	47,852
Expense provisions		1,530			1,885			4,577			5,187
Cash payments, net of recoveries		(1,424	)		(557	)		(4,745	)		(3,877	)
Balance at end of period	$	49,469		$	49,162		$	49,469		$	49,162

In the ordinary course of business, we make payments from our insurance reserves to settle litigation claims arising primarily from our homebuilding activities. These payments are irregular in both their timing and their magnitude. As a result, the cash payments, net of recoveries shown for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013 are not necessarily indicative of what future cash payments will be for subsequent periods.