Day: January 17, 2008

Breaking News: Florida Expands Suspension of Allstate

This Cowboy hopes some folks up Jackson way are taking notes.

Florida Expands Suspension of AllstateThursday

January 17, 4:07 pm ET
By Brent Kallestad, Associated Press Writer

Florida Suspends Allstate From Writing All Sorts of New Policies in the State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A day after telling Allstate Corp. to stop writing new car insurance policies in Florida, state regulators told the company to stop writing any new business in the state — including home insurance.

Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty had initially planned to clamp down on just the company’s auto business and its four companies doing business in Florida. But he expanded the suspension Thursday to include Allstate’s 10 companies nationally and all of its insurance lines.

McCarty abruptly ended a scheduled two-day meeting Tuesday after just two hours, angered that Allstate officials failed to fully comply with a subpoena seeking information on property coverage rates.

“We’re in the business of protecting homes, protecting automobiles and that’s what we want to do because that’s the role we play in this economy, in this marketplace,” Allstate spokesman Adam Shores said Thursday. “And we want to continue to do that.”

The suspended companies are Allstate Floridian Insurance Co., Allstate Indemnity, Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co., Encompass Insurance Co. of America, Encompass Indemnity Co., Encompass Floridian Insurance Co. and Encompass Floridian Indemnity Co.

Gov. Charlie Crist applauded the expended supension, which will last until the state gets the materials it demanded with the subpoena.

“I don’t know why you’d want to keep ’em,” said Crist, a longtime antagonist of many insurance companies he believes have gouged Floridians since the hurricanes that struck the state in 2004 and 2005. “I don’t know why you’d want to pay them money for anything.”

Allstate shares fell $1.35, or 2.7 percent, to $49.58 in late trading Thursday amid a broad market pullback.

Aiken V USAA Casualty Insurance Company Day 3: The Experts

In our first post on the trial, testimony revealed Rimkus Engineering supervisor James Jordan altered the onsite engineer’s report on the Aiken site favorably towards Rimkus client USAA without consulting the onsite engineer, Roverta Chapa in direct violation of Rimkus procedure. The following Sun Herald story recounts the testiomony of two plaintiff experts, a metorologist and structural engineer who both introduced evidence supporting the conclusions of Rimkus onsite engineer Roverta Chapa who also found strong evidence of wind damage to the property:

Experts assert pre-surge tornado damage

Testimony in trial against insurer USAA

By PAM FIRMINmailto:[email protected]

GULFPORT –Testifying as expert witnesses, a meteorologist and a forensic engineer Wednesday afternoon described why tornadic force rather than storm surge was most likely responsible for the Katrina destruction of David and Marilyn Aiken’s home in Henderson Point.

A lawsuit filed by the Aikens seeks damages and full payment of their $680,000 insurance policy with USAA Casualty Insurance Co., which paid them $178,000 in structural and contents damage. The suit claims USAA and Rimkus Consulting Group Inc., which was employed by USAA, conspired to to defraud them. Earlier testimony revolved around whether changes to a property report by structural engineer James W. Jordan were made to downplay wind damage so USAA would owe less money.

On Wednesday, Day 3 of the trial projected to last several weeks, presiding U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. frequently tried to move proceedings along, one time telling attorneys who haggled over details of intricate meteorological documents that it was “not necessary to go over every bit of the document” and later that “everybody’s tired of hearing his jabbering back and forth.”

Documents were provided by meteorologist Charles Barrere of Norman, Oka., formerly of the New Orleans area, who said they showed a tornado being tracked by the National Weather Service in New Orleans around 3 a.m. Aug. 29 most likely passed directly over the Aikens’ house hours before the waters rose. The eight jurors were able to look at these on monitors in front of their seats.

Dr. Charles Ivy, a forensic engineer from Florida, said it was significant that 90 percent of the nails on surviving beams at the Aiken property were bent in a direction from north to south and that four sturdy frames still standing were “whipped toward the west, leaning toward the direction the water came from. If water caused the destruction, they would have been leaning toward the east.”

Court begins today with cross examination of Ivy by USAA attorney Greg Copeland and Rimkus attorney David Ward.

Breaking news: Another Massive Reinsurance Failure

Well folks, the crooks in Gucci suits have outdone themselves this time. Out of the blue here comes another ENRON type scam and business failure

Reinsurers with MBIA ties to record Q4 charges
Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:43pm EST

By Lilla Zuill

NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Bermuda reinsurers RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd (RNR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and PartnerRe Ltd (PRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday they will write off 3-year-old investments in Channel Re, a reinsurer formed solely to do business with MBIA Inc (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s largest bond insurer.

The announcement comes after Channel Re notified the companies that fourth-quarter losses stemming from its business with MBIA are expected to exceed its shareholders equity.

RenRe said its investment in Channel Re carried a value of $126.7 million at the end of September. PartnerRe said it would take a $74 million fourth-quarter charge, equal to about $1.31 per share, to write down its investment.

Reinsurers effectively insure other insurers, spreading the risk of losses among more than one party.

Channel Re expects $200 million in credit impairments from a $3.3 billion mark-to-market charge at MBIA, according to Partner Re’s statement.

David Lilly, an outside spokesman for RenRe, declined to comment further on the Channel Re development. PartnerRe could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rising defaults in mortgage-related bonds have threatened to wipe out a significant amount of capital for bond insurers such as MBIA, putting ratings under threat of downgrade.

Last month MBIA took steps to shore up capital, securing up to $1 billion from private equity firm Warburg Pincus, and last week sold $1 billion of surplus notes.

Investors appear to still have doubts; MBIA shares fell 16.5 percent to $13.40 on Wednesday.

OFFSHORE PROTECTION

Channel Re was jointly formed in Bermuda in 2004 by MBIA, RenRe, PartnerRe and Koch Financial to do business exclusively with MBIA, which held a 17 percent stake. RenaissanceRe was the largest owner with about 33 percent, Koch owned roughly 30 percent and Partner Re, 20 percent.

Channel Re had a triple-A rating, with a stable outlook, from McGraw-Hill Co’s (MHP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rating firm Standard & Poor’s.

Bermuda, an offshore reinsurance center, is home to more than 1,500 insurers and about half a dozen bond reinsurers, including another that counted MBIA as a large customer, Ram Reinsurance Holdings (RAMR.O: Quote, Profile, Research).

Separately, RenaissanceRe said it will also take a $55 million charge in the fourth quarter to increase its incurred, but not realized, reserves for subprime-related exposures in its casualty clash reinsurance business.

RenRe said it expects to post a profit in the fourth quarter and for the full year despite the charges. It is due to report quarterly earnings on Feb. 5.