Finally - Time to Fight Back!

I was delighted to hear good news. Time for Allstate to play the same rules as the rest of us:

Florida halts new Allstate policies
South Florida Business Journal - by Kate Howell

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has suspended Allstate Cos.'s certificate of authority to write new insurance in Florida until it fully complies with subpoenas relating to its property insurance rates.

"If Allstate is willing to pay $25,000 per day in fines to a Missouri court for its ongoing failure to provide similar documents, it's obvious to me that it will take more than a monetary sanction to get them to comply with our subpoenas," McCarty said in a news release.

Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate said it was surprised by OIR's actions and committed to working with regulators.

In a written statement, Allstate said it has provided nearly 40,000 pages of information and will continue to "produce responsive documents" for OIR on a rolling basis. It added that it has yet to receive an order from OIR regarding the suspension and is evaluating its options.

"At this time, it is not clear how this action will affect Allstate or the more than 1,100 Allstate agents in Florida who are small business owners and employers," statement said.

McCarty halted a hearing looking into Allstate's reinsurance program, relationships to risk modeling companies, insurance rating organizations and insurance trade associations Tuesday when the companies refused to provide documents subpoenaed Oct. 15. Instead, the Office of Insurance Regulation said it received 51 pages of objections to the subpoenas.

The companies were subpoenaed after requesting rate increases averaging 42 percent. Regulators wanted to know why Allstate failed to comply with a new insurance law passed last year which expanded the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to give insurers access to less expensive backup insurance. Insurance companies were to apply the savings toward lower rates.

Attorney Joseph Dawson, whose firm Dawson & Finkelstein sues insurance companies over unpaid claims and unfair business practices, said other insurance companies will be watching the fallout of Allstate's suspension closely.

"They are seeing that they are going to have to support rate hikes with sufficient data," Dawson said.

He added that the suspension reflects a "premium sensitive" attitude in Florida's government that could lead to a strong response "if insurance companies fail to adhere to their obligations under the new insurance law."

The indefinite suspension applies to Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Indemnity Co. and Allstate Property and Casualty Co., and it only suspends the companies from writing new business in Florida. Existing policyholders will not be affected, and the companies must continue to make filings, including audited annual financial statements, quarterly financial statements and rate filings.

Gov. Charlie Crist said he supports McCarty's decision.

"It is clear to me that Allstate must have something to hide if they are unwilling to comply with the commissioner's requests," Crist said in a news release.