Fla OIR files to reinstate Allstate suspension

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said it has filed its response with the 1st District Court of Appeal, seeking to have the suspension of Allstate Cos.' ability to write policies in Florida reinstated.

The OIR's central argument is that Allstate's failure to provide all the documents requested in an Oct. 16 subpoena was a crime.

An appeals judge granted Allstate an emergency injunction on Friday, just days after state insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty suspended its ability to write new policies in the state due to what he said was Allstate's refusal to fulfill a subpoena request for documents.

The companies were subpoenaed after requesting rate increases averaging 42 percent. Regulators wanted to know why Allstate failed to comply with a new insurance law passed last year, which expanded the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to give insurers access to less-expensive backup insurance. Insurance companies were to apply the savings toward lower rates.

Allstate has said it had complied with the subpoena request, producing nearly 40,000 pages of information to the state, and pledged to continue working with the insurance commissioner on future requests.

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