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Statutory Capital and Surplus
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Notes to Financial Statements  
Statutory Capital and Surplus

NOTE 14 – STATUTORY CAPITAL AND SURPLUS

Crusader is required to file an annual statement with insurance regulatory authorities prepared on an accounting basis prescribed or permitted by such authorities (statutory). Statutory accounting practices differ in certain respects from GAAP. The more significant of the differences for statutory accounting are (a) policy acquisition and commission costs are expensed when incurred rather than over the periods covered by the policies; (b) fixed maturity securities are reported at amortized cost, or the lower of amortized cost or fair value, depending on the quality of the security as specified by the NAIC; (c) non-admitted assets are charged directly against surplus; (d) loss reserves and unearned premium reserves are stated net of reinsurance; and (e) federal income taxes are recorded when payable and deferred taxes, subject to limitations, are recognized but only to the extent that they do not exceed a specified percentage of statutory surplus; changes in deferred taxes are recorded directly to surplus as regards policyholders. Additionally, the cash flow presentation is not consistent with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and reconciliation from net income to cash provided by operations is not presented. Comprehensive income is not presented under statutory accounting.

 

Crusader Insurance Company statutory capital and surplus are as follows:

As of December 31, 2011 $67,277,035
As of December 31, 2010 $62,520,958

 

Crusader Insurance Company statutory net income is as follows:

Year ended December 31, 2011   $5,661,398
Year ended December 31, 2010     $4,513,078
Year ended December 31, 2009   $4,942,935

 

The California Department of Insurance (the insurance department) conducts periodic financial examinations of Crusader. The insurance department completed a financial examination of Crusader’s December 31, 2008, statutory financial statements. A final report on the examination was issued by the insurance department on October 22, 2009. No significant issues were reported in the final report.

 

The Company believes that Crusader's statutory capital and surplus are sufficient to support the insurance premiums written based on guidelines established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

 

Crusader is restricted in the amount of dividends it may pay to its parent in any 12-month period without prior approval of the insurance department. Presently, without prior approval, Crusader may pay a dividend in any 12-month period to its parent equal to the greater of (a) 10% of Crusader's statutory policyholders' surplus or (b) Crusader's statutory net income for the preceding calendar year. Based on Crusader’s statutory surplus for the year ended December 31, 2011, the maximum dividend that could be made by Crusader to Unico without prior regulatory approval in 2012 is $6,727,703. In the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, Crusader paid to Unico cash dividends in the amount of $1,250,000, $4,250,000 and $7,000,000, respectively.

 

In December 1993, the NAIC adopted a Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Model Law for property and casualty companies. The RBC Model Law is intended to provide standards for calculating a variable regulatory capital requirement related to a company's current operations and its risk exposures (asset risk, underwriting risk, credit risk, and off-balance sheet risk). These standards are intended to serve as a diagnostic solvency tool for regulators that establishes uniform capital levels and specific authority levels for regulatory intervention when an insurer falls below minimum capital levels. The RBC Model Law specifies four distinct action levels at which a regulator can intervene with increasing degrees of authority over a domestic insurer if its RBC is equal to or less than 200% of its computed authorized control level RBC. A company's RBC is required to be disclosed in its statutory annual statement. The RBC is not intended to be used as a rating or ranking tool nor is it to be used in premium rate making or approval. Crusader’s adjusted capital at December 31, 2011, was 1,018% of authorized control level risk-based capital.

 

Insurance Regulatory Information System (IRIS) was developed by a committee of state insurance regulators primarily to assist state insurance departments in executing their statutory mandate to oversee the financial condition of insurance companies. IRIS helps those companies that merit highest priority in the allocation of the regulators’ resources on the basis of 13 financial ratios that are calculated annually. The analytical phase is a review of annual statements and the financial ratios. The ratios and trends are valuable in pointing to companies likely to experience financial difficulties but the ratios are not themselves indicative of adverse financial condition. The ratio and benchmark comparisons are mechanically produced and are not intended to replace the state insurance department’s own in-depth financial analysis or on-site examinations.

 

 

An unusual range of ratio results has been established from studies of the ratios of companies that have become insolvent or have experienced financial difficulties. In the analytical phase, companies that receive 4 or more financial ratio values outside the usual range are analyzed in order to identify those companies that appear to require immediate regulatory action. Subsequently, a more comprehensive review of the ratio results and an insurer’s annual statement is performed to confirm that an insurer’s situation calls for increased or close regulatory attention. In 2011, the Company was outside the usual value of one of the 13 IRIS ratio tests. IRIS ratio test No. 6 considers the Company’s 2011 investment yield. An unusual value for that ratio is equal to or over 6.5% or equal to or less than 3%. Crusader’s 2011 investment yield was 2.3%.