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Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of ProAssurance Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries (ProAssurance, PRA or the Company). The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, have been included. ProAssurance’s results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes contained in ProAssurance’s December 31, 2019 report on Form 10-K.
ProAssurance operates in five reportable segments as follows: Specialty P&C, Workers' Compensation Insurance, Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance, Lloyd's Syndicates and Corporate. For more information on the Company's segment reporting, including the nature of products and services provided and financial information by segment, refer to Note 12.
Other Liabilities
Other liabilities consisted of the following:
(In thousands)
 
March 31, 2020
 
December 31, 2019
SPC dividends payable
 
$
55,669

 
$
55,763

Unpaid shareholder dividends
 
16,691

 
16,676

All other
 
97,423

 
100,817

Total other liabilities
 
$
169,783

 
$
173,256


SPC dividends payable represents the undistributed equity contractually payable to the external cell participants of SPCs operated by ProAssurance's Cayman Islands subsidiaries, Inova Re and Eastern Re.
Unpaid shareholder dividends represent common stock dividends declared by ProAssurance's Board that had not yet been paid as of March 31, 2020.
Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and disclosures related to these amounts at the date of the financial statements. The Company evaluates these estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis based on current and historical developments, market conditions, industry trends and other information that the Company believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. The Company can make no assurance that actual results will conform to its estimates and assumptions; reported results of operations may be materially affected by changes in these estimates and assumptions.
While the Company did not incur significant operational or financial disruptions during the three months ended March 31, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company may reevaluate certain of these estimates and assumptions in future periods which could result in material changes to its results of operations including, but not limited to, higher losses and loss adjustment expenses, lower premium volume, asset impairment charges, declines in investment valuations, reductions in audit premium estimates, deferred tax valuation allowances and increases in the allowance for expected credit losses related to available-for-sale securities, premiums receivable and reinsurance receivables. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the Company's business, results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. These factors include, but are not limited to, the duration, spread, severity, reemergence or mutation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's insureds, the loss environment, the healthcare industry, the labor market and Lloyd's, the actions and stimulus measures taken by governments and governmental agencies, and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, the Company may experience an impact to its business as a result of any economic recession that has occurred or may occur in the future. Please see Note 13 for additional information.
Except as added below, the significant accounting policies followed by ProAssurance in making estimates that materially affect financial reporting are summarized in Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in ProAssurance’s December 31, 2019 report on Form 10-K.
Due to the adoption of ASU 2016-13 at the beginning of 2020, ProAssurance began following the accounting policies described below:
Credit Losses
ProAssurance's premiums receivable and reinsurance receivables are exposed to credit losses but to-date have not experienced any significant amount of credit losses. ProAssurance measures expected credit losses on its premiums receivables and reinsurance receivables on a collective (pool) basis when similar risk characteristics exist, and the Company will reassess its pools each reporting period to ensure all receivables within the pool continue to share similar risk characteristics. If the Company determines that a receivable does not share risk characteristics with its other receivables within a pool, it will evaluate that receivable for expected credit losses on an individual basis. ProAssurance measures expected credit losses associated with its premium receivables at the segment level as each segment’s premium receivables share similar risk characteristics including term, type of financial asset and similar historical and expected credit loss patterns. ProAssurance measures expected credit losses associated with its reinsurance receivables (related to both paid and unpaid losses) at the consolidated level as its reinsurance receivables share similar risk characteristics including type of financial asset, type of industry and similar historical and expected credit loss patterns.
ProAssurance measures expected credit losses over the contractual term of each pool utilizing a loss rate method. Historical internal credit loss experience for each pool is the basis for the Company’s assessment of expected credit losses; however, the Company may also consider historical credit loss information from external sources. In addition to historical credit loss data, the Company also considers reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions in its estimate of expected credit losses by utilizing industry and macroeconomic factors that it believes most relevant to the collectability of each pool.
ProAssurance’s premiums receivable on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2020 is reported net of the related allowance for expected credit losses of $6.2 million. The following table presents a roll forward of the allowance for expected credit losses related to the Company's premiums receivable for the three months ended March 31, 2020.
(In thousands)
Premiums Receivable, Net
 
Allowance for Expected Credit Losses
Balance, December 31, 2019
$
249,540

 
$
1,590

Cumulative-effect adjustment on January 1, 2020, before tax - ASU 2016-13 adoption
 
 
5,160

Provision for expected credit losses
 
 
88

Write offs charged against the allowance
 
 
(689
)
Recoveries of amounts previously written off
 
 
48

Balance, March 31, 2020
$
266,822

 
$
6,197


ProAssurance’s expected credit losses associated with its reinsurance receivables (related to both paid and unpaid losses) were nominal in amount as of March 31, 2020. ProAssurance has other financial assets and off-balance-sheet commitments that are exposed to credit losses; however, expected credit losses associated with these assets and commitments were nominal in amount as of March 31, 2020.
Investments
Impairments
ProAssurance evaluates its available-for-sale investment securities, which at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 consisted entirely of fixed maturity securities, on at least a quarterly basis for the purpose of determining whether declines in fair value below recorded cost basis represent impairment. The Company considers an impairment to have occurred:
if there is intent to sell the security;
if it is more likely than not that the security will be required to be sold before full recovery of its amortized cost basis; or
if the entire amortized basis of the security is not expected to be recovered.
The assessment of whether the amortized cost basis of a security is expected to be recovered requires management to make assumptions regarding various matters affecting future cash flows. The choice of assumptions is subjective and requires the use of judgment. Actual credit losses experienced in future periods may differ from management’s estimates of those credit losses. Methodologies used to estimate the present value of expected cash flows are:
The estimate of expected cash flows is determined by projecting a recovery value and a recovery time frame and assessing whether further principal and interest will be received. ProAssurance considers various factors in projecting recovery values and recovery time frames, including the following:
third-party research and credit rating reports;
the current credit standing of the issuer, including credit rating downgrades, whether before or after the balance sheet date;
the extent to which the decline in fair value is attributable to credit risk specifically associated with the security or its issuer;
internal assessments and the assessments of external portfolio managers regarding specific circumstances surrounding an investment, which indicate the investment is more or less likely to recover its amortized cost than other investments with a similar structure;
for asset-backed securities, the origination date of the underlying loans, the remaining average life, the probability that credit performance of the underlying loans will deteriorate in the future and ProAssurance's assessment of the quality of the collateral underlying the loan;
failure of the issuer of the security to make scheduled interest or principal payments;
any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency;
recoveries or additional declines in fair value subsequent to the balance sheet date;
adverse legal or regulatory events;
significant deterioration in the market environment that may affect the value of collateral (e.g. decline in real estate prices);
significant deterioration in economic conditions; and
disruption in the business model resulting from changes in technology or new entrants to the industry.
If deemed appropriate and necessary, a discounted cash flow analysis is performed to confirm whether a credit loss exists and, if so, the amount of the credit loss. ProAssurance uses the single best estimate approach for available-for-sale debt securities and considers all reasonably available data points, including industry analyses, credit ratings, expected defaults and the remaining payment terms of the debt security. For fixed rate available-for-sale debt securities, cash flows are discounted at the security's effective interest rate implicit in the security at the date of acquisition. If the available-for-sale debt security’s contractual interest rate varies based on subsequent changes in an independent factor, such as an index or rate, for example, the prime rate, the LIBOR, or the U.S. Treasury bill weekly average, that security’s effective interest rate is calculated based on the factor as it changes over the life of the security.
If ProAssurance intends to sell a debt security or believes it will more likely than not be required to sell a debt security before the amortized cost basis is recovered, any existing allowance will be written off against the security's amortized cost basis, with any remaining difference between the debt security's amortized cost basis and fair value recognized as an impairment loss in earnings.
Exclusive of securities where there is an intent to sell or where it is not more likely than not that the security will be required to be sold before recovery of its amortized cost basis, impairment for debt securities is separated into a credit component and a non-credit component. The credit component of an impairment is the difference between the security’s amortized cost basis and the present value of its expected future cash flows, while the non-credit component is the remaining difference between the security’s fair value and the present value of expected future cash flows. An allowance for expected credit losses will be recorded for the expected credit losses through income and the non-credit component is recognized in OCI. The amount of impairment recognized is limited to the excess of the amortized cost over the fair value of the available-for-sale debt security.
Accounting Changes Adopted
Improvements to Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (ASU 2016-13)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB issued guidance that replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology, which delays recognition of credit losses until a probable loss has been incurred, with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. Included in the scope of this guidance are the Company's available-for-sale fixed maturity securities and its financial assets held at amortized cost. Under the new guidance, credit losses are required to be recorded through an allowance for expected credit losses account and the income statement will reflect the initial recognition of lifetime expected credit losses for any newly recognized financial assets as well as increases or decreases of expected credit losses that have taken place during the period. Credit losses on available-for-sale fixed maturity securities are required to be presented as an allowance, rather than as a write-down of the asset, limited to the amount by which
the fair value is below amortized cost. ProAssurance adopted this guidance beginning January 1, 2020 using a modified retrospective application for the portion of the new guidance that relates to its premiums and reinsurance receivables and a prospective application for the portion of the new guidance that relates to its available-for-sale fixed maturity securities. ProAssurance recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment of $4.1 million, net of related tax impacts, to beginning retained earnings as of January 1, 2020 to increase its consolidated allowance for expected credit losses related to its premiums receivable. ProAssurance determined that estimated expected credit losses associated with the Company's other financial assets held at amortized cost included in the scope of this new guidance was nominal as of January 1, 2020. Adoption of this guidance had no material effect on ProAssurance's results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment (ASU 2017-04)
Effective for the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB issued guidance that simplifies the requirements to test goodwill for impairment for business entities that have goodwill reported in their financial statements. The guidance eliminates the second step of the impairment test which measures a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit's goodwill with the carrying amount which is expected to reduce the complexity and cost of future tests of goodwill for impairment. In addition, the guidance also eliminates the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment. ProAssurance adopted the guidance beginning January 1, 2020, and adoption had no material effect on ProAssurance’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (ASU 2018-13)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB issued guidance that eliminates, modifies and adds certain disclosure requirements related to fair value measurements. The new guidance eliminates the requirements to disclose the transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, the policy for the timing of transfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy and the valuation process for Level 3 fair value measurements while it modifies existing disclosure requirements related to measurement uncertainty and the requirement to disclose the timing of liquidation of an investee's assets for investments in certain entities that calculate NAV. The new guidance also adds requirements to disclose changes in unrealized gains and losses included in OCI for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements as well as the range and weighted average used to develop significant unobservable inputs for Level 3 fair value measurements. An entity is permitted to early adopt any eliminated or modified disclosure requirements and delay adoption of the additional disclosure requirements until the guidance is effective. During the third quarter of 2018, ProAssurance elected to early adopt the provisions that eliminate and modify certain disclosure requirements within Note 2 on a retrospective basis, and adopted the additional disclosure requirements beginning January 1, 2020. Adoption of this guidance had no material effect on ProAssurance’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows as it affected disclosures only.
Intangibles - Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software (ASU 2018-15)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB amended the new standard regarding accounting for implementation costs in cloud computing arrangements. The amended guidance substantially aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. ProAssurance adopted the guidance beginning January 1, 2020, and adoption had no material effect on ProAssurance’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Targeted Improvements to Related Party Guidance for VIEs (ASU 2018-17)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB amended guidance which improves the consistency of the application of the VIE guidance for common control arrangements. The amended guidance requires an entity to consider indirect interests held through related parties under common control on a proportional basis rather than as the equivalent of a direct interest in its entirety when determining whether a decision-making fee is a variable interest. ProAssurance adopted the guidance beginning January 1, 2020. ProAssurance does not have any material indirect interests held through related parties under common control; therefore, adoption had no material effect on ProAssurance’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Collaborative Arrangements (ASU 2018-18)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB issued new guidance which clarifies how to assess whether certain transactions between participants in a collaborative arrangement should be accounted for under the revenue from contracts with customers accounting standard when the counterpart is a customer. In addition, the guidance precludes an entity from presenting consideration from a transaction in a collaborative arrangement as revenue from contracts with customers if the counterparty is not a customer for that transaction. ProAssurance adopted the guidance beginning January 1, 2020, and adoption had no material effect on ProAssurance’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Reference Rate Reform (ASU 2020-04)
The FASB issued guidance intended to assist stakeholders during the market-wide reference rate transition period and is effective for a limited period between March 12, 2020 and December 31, 2022. The guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate that is expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. ProAssurance has exposure to LIBOR-based financial instruments through its variable rate Mortgage Loans and Revolving Credit Agreement; however, these agreements include provisions for an alternative benchmark rate if LIBOR ceases to exist, which do not materially change the liability exposure. Additionally, ProAssurance has exposure to LIBOR in its available-for-sale fixed maturities portfolio which represented approximately 6% of total investments, or $185 million, as of March 31, 2020; 25% of these investments with exposure to LIBOR were issued during 2020 or 2019 and include provisions for an alternative benchmark rate. Optional expedients for contract modifications include a prospective adjustment that does not require contract remeasurement or reassessment of a previous accounting determination; therefore, the modified contract is accounted for as a continuation of the existing contract. ProAssurance adopted the guidance beginning March 12, 2020, and adoption had no material effect on ProAssurance's results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Accounting Changes Not Yet Adopted
Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB issued new guidance which is intended to simplify various aspects related to accounting for income taxes. In addition, it removes certain exceptions to the general principles in the income tax guidance in the codification and also clarifies and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. ProAssurance plans to adopt the guidance beginning January 1, 2021, and adoption is not expected to have a material effect on ProAssurance's results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Clarifying the Interactions between Investments - Equity Securities, Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures, and Derivatives and Hedging (ASU 2020-01)
Effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020 and interim periods within those fiscal years, the FASB amended guidance that clarifies the accounting for the transition into and out of the equity method and measuring certain purchased options and forward contracts to acquire investments. ProAssurance plans to adopt the guidance beginning January 1, 2021, and adoption is not expected to have a material effect on ProAssurance's results of operations, financial position or cash flows.