Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has placed Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance (Gulfstream) under its administrative supervision, after deeming the insurer unable to keep the minimum amount of funds to pay for policyholders’ claims.
Under the regulator’s supervision, Sarasota, FL-based Gulfstream will be unable to write new policies. It will also make policy information immediately available to other insurance carriers that can take on its current policyholders. Such a process is usually a confidential affair, but the OIR said in a recent filing that it was “in the best interest of the public” and policyholders.
The insurer has agreed to be placed under the OIR’s administrative supervision for a period of 90 days. The duration may be extended at the OIR’s discretion for as long as needed for Gulfstream to “resolve issues with its financial condition.” Gulfstream has also been ordered to submit a plan this week on how it intends to reverse its current financial woes.
In an email statement to Tampa Bay Times, an OIR spokesperson said that the regulator’s priority remains “the protection of consumers,” and that it “will make every effort to ensure consumers have access to coverage.”
The OIR decision came just after ratings agency Demotech withdrew its “A” rating of Gulfstream.
Gulfstream was one of three insurance companies operating in Florida that were approved last month to drop a total of more than 50,000 homeowners’ policies. For its part, Gulfstream was cleared to drop some 20,311 homeowners’, condo and tenant policies.
The company also reported a $35 million underwriting loss last year.
