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REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS [Abstract]  
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS
(8)  REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS

Consent Order

As of September 30, 2014, we had satisfied all applicable conditions of the Consent Order we entered into in January 2011 (the “Consent Order”) with the Florida OIR.  We entered into the Consent Order in connection with the merger of our one of our wholly owned insurance subsidiaries, American Vehicle into FNIC, with FNIC continuing the operations of both entities.  As of the date of this Report, the only operational restriction that remains in effect is a requirement to obtain OIR approval prior to writing commercial multi-peril business or any new commercial property business, including condo associations, under any other line of business for which FNIC is authorized.  FNIC currently has no commercial multi-peril policy premium in-force and the current commercial habitation book of business is fully earned. The Consent Order required us to, among other things, limit the number of policies that we write in the Tri-County area and imposed certain other operational requirements on us, all of which we have complied with.

Other Regulatory Requirements and Restrictions

To retain our certificate of authority, the Florida Insurance Code (the "Code") requires FNIC to maintain capital and surplus equal to the greater of 10% of its’ liabilities or a statutory minimum capital and surplus as defined in the Code. FNIC is required to have a minimum capital surplus of $5.0 million.

At December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, FNIC’s statutory capital surplus was $125.3 million, $76.9 million and $52.1 million, respectively.

An insurance company is also required to adhere to prescribed premium-to-capital surplus ratios. As of December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, FNIC was in compliance with the prescribed premium-to-surplus ratio.

We had bonds with a carrying value of approximately $2.3 million pledged to the Florida OIR, as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Under Florida law, a domestic insurer may not pay any dividend or distribute cash or other property to its shareholders except out of that part of its available and accumulated capital surplus funds which is derived from realized net operating profits on its business and net realized capital gains. A Florida domestic insurer may not make dividend payments or distributions to shareholders without prior approval of the Florida OIR if the dividend or distribution would exceed the larger of (i) the lesser of (a) 10.0% of its capital surplus or (b) net income, not including realized capital gains, plus a two-year carryforward, (ii) 10.0% of capital surplus with dividends payable constrained to unassigned funds minus 25.0% of unrealized capital gains or (iii) the lesser of (a) 10.0% of capital surplus or (b) net investment income plus a three-year carryforward with dividends payable constrained to unassigned funds minus 25.0% of unrealized capital gains.

Alternatively, a Florida domestic insurer may pay a dividend or distribution without the prior written approval of the Florida OIR (i) if the dividend is equal to or less than the greater of (a) 10.0% of the insurer’s capital surplus as regards policyholders derived from realized net operating profits on its business and net realized capital gains or (b) the insurer’s entire net operating profits and realized net capital gains derived during the immediately preceding calendar year, (ii) the insurer will have policy holder capital surplus equal to or exceeding 115.0% of the minimum required statutory capital surplus after the dividend or distribution, (iii) the insurer files a notice of the dividend or distribution with the Florida OIR at least ten business days prior to the dividend payment or distribution and (iv) the notice includes a certification by an officer of the insurer attesting that, after the payment of the dividend or distribution, the insurer will have at least 115.0% of required statutory capital surplus as to policyholders. Except as provided above, a Florida domiciled insurer may only pay a dividend or make a distribution (i) subject to prior approval by the Florida OIR or (ii) 30 days after the Florida OIR has received notice of such dividend or distribution and has not disapproved it within such time.

No dividends were paid by FNIC or American Vehicle in 2014, 2013 and 2012, and none are anticipated in 2015. Although we believe that amounts required to meet our financial and operating obligations will be available from sources other than dividends from our insurance subsidiaries, there can be no assurance in this regard. Further, there can be no assurance that, if requested, the Florida OIR will allow any dividends to be paid by FNIC to us, the parent company, in the future. The maximum dividends permitted by state law are not necessarily indicative of an insurer’s actual ability to pay dividends or other distributions to a parent company, which also may be constrained by business and regulatory considerations, such as the impact of dividends on capital surplus, which could affect an insurer’s competitive position, the amount of premiums that can be written and the ability to pay future dividends. Further, state insurance laws and regulations require that the statutory capital surplus of an insurance company following any dividend or distribution by it be reasonable in relation to its outstanding liabilities and adequate for its financial needs.
 
Insurance holding company regulations govern the amount that non-insurance company subsidiaries (FNU, FNA and any other affiliate)  may charge any of the insurance companies for service (e.g., management fees and commissions).

In order to enhance the regulation of insurer solvency, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) established risk-based capital requirements for insurance companies that are designed to assess capital adequacy and to raise the level of protection that statutory surplus provides for policy holders. These requirements measure three major areas of risk facing property and casualty insurers: (i) underwriting risks, which encompass the risk of adverse loss developments and inadequate pricing; (ii) declines in asset values arising from credit risk; and (iii) other business risks from investments. Insurers having less statutory surplus than required will be subject to varying degrees of regulatory action, depending on the level of capital inadequacy. The Florida OIR, which follows these requirements, could require FNIC to cease operations in the event they fail to maintain the required statutory capital.

Based upon the 2014 and 2013 statutory financial statements for FNIC, statutory surplus exceeded the regulatory action levels established by the NAIC’s risk-based capital requirements.

Based on risk-based capital requirements, the extent of regulatory intervention and action increases as the ratio of an insurer’s statutory surplus to its Authorized Control Level (“ACL”), as calculated under the NAIC’s requirements, decreases. The first action level, the Company Action Level, requires an insurer to submit a plan of corrective actions to the insurance regulators if statutory surplus falls below 200.0% of the ACL amount. The second action level, the Regulatory Action Level, requires an insurer to submit a plan containing corrective actions and permits the insurance regulators to perform an examination or other analysis and issue a corrective order if statutory surplus falls below 150.0% of the ACL amount. The third action level, ACL, allows the regulators to rehabilitate or liquidate an insurer in addition to the aforementioned actions if statutory surplus falls below the ACL amount. The fourth action level is the Mandatory Control Level, which requires the regulators to rehabilitate or liquidate the insurer if statutory surplus falls below 70.0% of the ACL amount. FNIC’s ratio of statutory surplus to its ACL was 534.0%, 312.1% and 474.4% at December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Most recently the Florida OIR subjected FNIC to a balance sheet audit as of December 31, 2010. There were no material findings by the independent auditors in connection with this examination. FNIC also experienced a regularly scheduled statutory examination by the Florida OIR which occurred during 2010 for the five years ended December 31, 2010. There were no material findings in connection with this examination. The previous regulatory examination conducted by the Florida OIR on FNIC covered the three-year period ended on December 31, 2004.

The NAIC has also developed IRIS ratios to assist state insurance departments in identifying companies which may be developing performance or solvency problems, as signaled by significant changes in the companies’ operations. Such changes may not necessarily result from any problems with an insurance company, but may merely indicate changes in certain ratios outside the ranges defined as normal by the NAIC. When an insurance company has four or more ratios falling outside “usual ranges”, state regulators may investigate to determine the reasons for the variance and whether corrective action is warranted.

As of December 31, 2014, FNIC was outside NAIC’s usual range for four of thirteen IRIS ratios. These exceptions related to change in policyholder surplus growth, investment yield and estimated current reserve deficiency to policyholders’ surplus. The policyholder surplus growth exceeded the normal range due to the parent company’s surplus infusion totaling approximately $18.5 million. The increase in earned premiums during 2014 lead to the exceptional value for the Estimated Current Reserve to Deficiency to Surplus result.

As of December 31, 2013, FNIC was outside NAIC’s usual range for three of thirteen IRIS ratios. These exceptions related to change in net writings, investment yield and estimated current reserve deficiency to policyholders’ surplus.

As of December 31, 2012, NAIC’s usual range for three of thirteen IRIS ratios. These exceptions related to investment yield, net change in adjusted policyholders’ surplus and estimated current reserve deficiency to policyholders’ surplus.

There was no action taken by the Florida OIR in connection with the December 31, 2013 or 2012 IRIS ratio results. We do not currently believe that the Florida OIR will take any significant action with respect to FNIC regarding the 2014 IRIS ratios, although there can be no assurance that will be the case.
 
The table below reflects the range and test results for FNIC for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

IRIS Ratios
 
Unusual Values Equal to Or
  
2014
  
2013
 
  
Over
  
Under
  
FNIC
  
FNIC
 
         
Gross Premiums to Policyholders' Surplus
  
900
   
-
   
308
   
325
 
Net Premium to Policyholders' Surplus
  
300
   
-
   
147
   
217
 
Change in Net Writings
  
33
   
(33
)
  
10
   
137
*
Surplus Aid to Policyholders' Surplus
  
15
   
-
   
11
   
0
 
Two-year Overall Operating Ratio
  
100
   
-
   
79
   
84
 
Investment Yield
  
6.5
   
3.0
   
1.5
*
  
1.4
*
Gross Change in Policyholders' Surplus
  
50
   
(10
)
  
63
*
  
48
 
Net Change in Adjusted Policyholders' Surplus
  
25
   
(10
)
  
39
*
  
17
 
Liabilities to Liquid Assets
  
105
   
-
   
70
   
79
 
Gross Agents' Balance to Policyholders' Surplus
  
40
   
-
   
5
   
13
 
One-Year Reserve Development to Policyholders' Surplus
  
20
   
-
   
3
   
(4
)
Two-Year Reserve Development to Policyholders' Surplus
  
20
   
-
   
7
   
(7
)
Estimated Current Reserve Deficiency to Policyholders' Surplus
  
25
   
-
   
38
*
  
56
*

* indicates an unusual value

GAAP differs in some respects from reporting practices prescribed or permitted by the Florida OIR. FNIC’s statutory capital and surplus was $125.3 million and $76.9 million as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. FNIC’s statutory net income was $29.2 million, $3.6 million and $6.6 million for 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. FNIC’s statutory non-admitted assets were $0.1 million and nearly nothing as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.