STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Florida news

• Alley lease: Outcry on the west coast, murmur on the east coast
• Governor asks Florida court to reconsider its rejection of gaming deal
• FWC: Florida attracts anglers like chum attracts fish

Share and Enjoy [?]

TALLAHASSEE — Allstate Companies can be suspended by the state from writing new car insurance policies and other coverage for not turning over documents to the satisfaction of regulators, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation had suspended Allstate from writing policies in January because the company hadn't turned over records to the office's satisfaction, but the company was allowed to continue writing policies while it appealed. On Wednesday a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal said the state could re-institute the suspension.

"Allstate's willful, indeed potentially criminal, failure to comply with its disclosure obligations has prevented (the state) from adequately investigating its reasoned belief that Allstate is systematically defrauding its policyholders," Justice Paul Hawkes wrote in the court's opinion. Chief Judge Edwin Browning and Judge Joseph Lewis concurred in the decision.

Allstate has said in the past that it has turned over thousands of pages of documents and believes it is trying to comply with subpoenas. The company said Wednesday it was reviewing the court ruling and would have a comment later. Allstate could further appeal Wednesday's ruling.

The suspension has been supported strongly by Gov. Charlie Crist, who has chided the company and other insurers for high rates for property insurance.

Crist said during a break from a hurricane conference he is attending in South Florida that he was delighted with the court's decision and took the opportunity to again take a swipe at insurance companies.

"Some of them, like Allstate, have been horrific," Crist said. "They just haven't been good to our people."

The state said when it initially issued the suspension that it wouldn't affect existing Allstate policies.

The decision mostly would impact the company's car insurance policies, although it would likely cover other policies. That's because Allstate hasn't been writing new property insurance policies and has also shed many of the policies it previously had.

Based in Northbrook, Ill., Allstate Corp. is Florida's second-largest auto insurer with 13 percent of the market in 2006. State Farm is the state's largest with 19 percent.

The suspension in January by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty came after an abrupt end to a hearing into Allstate's rates and its relationships with insurance trade associations.

McCarty complained that instead of providing all the documents the state wanted, Allstate produced 51 pages of objections to the subpoenas and was "substantively non-compliant," despite turning over some documents.

With the ruling, the agency can move forward on a new suspension order, but it wasn't clear yet when that might happen. The original suspension applied to Allstate Floridian Insurance Co., Allstate Indemnity Co., Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Floridian Indemnity Co., Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co., Encompass Insurance Co. of America Encompass Indemnity Co., Encompass Floridian Insurance Co., and Encompass Floridian Indemnity Co., and it only suspends the companies from writing new business in Florida.

McCarty, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday has said in the past the company would be allowed to resume selling new policies as soon as it hands over the documents to the satisfaction of regulators.

The decision was expected because the same court last month issued a ruling saying it would allow the state to reinstate the suspension. But the same day, the court rescinded that ruling saying it was released prematurely in violation of the court's operating procedures.