Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Disclosure- Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

7. Commitments and Contingencies

(a) Concentration of Credit Risk

Financing receivables

Included in the Company's Other invested assets are certain notes receivable which meet the definition of financing receivables and are accounted for using the cost method of accounting.These notes receivable are collateralized by commercial or residential property. The Company utilizes a third party consultant to determine the initial investment criteria and to monitor the subsequent performance of the notes receivable. The process undertaken prior to the investment in these notes receivable includes an examination of the underlying collateral. The Company reviews its receivable positions on at least a quarterly basis using actual redemption experience. At September 30, 2012, based on the latest available information, the Company recorded an allowance for credit losses related to these notes receivable of $3.0 million.

The Company monitors the performance of the notes receivable based on the type of underlying collateral and by assigning a “performing” or a “non-performing” indicator of credit quality to each individual receivable. At September 30, 2012, the Company's notes receivable of$59.1 million were all performing and were collateralized by residential property and commercial property of $38.0 million and $21.1 million, respectively.At December 31, 2011, the Company's notes receivable of $80.4 million were all performing and were collateralized by residential property and commercial property of $45.9 million and $34.5 million, respectively.

TheCompany purchased$0.2 million and $37.6 million of financing receivables during thethree monthsand ninemonths ended September 30, 2012, respectively.The Company purchased financing receivables of $18.5 million and $84.5 million during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2011, respectively. There were no sales of financing receivables during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011. However, the outstanding balanceswere reduced by settlements of the underlying debt in all the periods above.

(b) Legal Proceedings

There has been no significant change in legal proceedings at September 30, 2012 compared to December 31, 2011. See Note 18(e) to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2011.