Citing what he called a lack of preparedness when Allstate arrived at a Jan. 15 hearing following a subpoena, McCarty on Jan. 17 ordered Allstate's certificate of authority to write new business in Florida be suspended.
Allstate then filed an appeal of the suspension and a judge granted the insurer an emergency motion for immediate relief, or stay, of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation suspension order.
Along with the denial of McCarty's motion to reinstate, the panel of judges in the First District Court of Appeal made its own motion to expedite Allstate's pending appeal. The judges outlined specific a specific timetable and said they will grant no extensions of time to Allstate or McCarty without a showing of emergency circumstances, the court order states.
In a statement McCarty said he is disappointed in the court's decision not to reinstate his suspension but is "encouraged" by the court's order to expedite the case.
"I remain committed to getting answers to questions about Allstate's business practices and relationships with rating agencies, catastrophe modeling companies and industry trade groups," McCarty said.
Allstate has said it supplied the OIR with tens of thousands of documents and continues to do so. McCarty said he has yet to receive all the information he requested via subpoena.
Allstate Floridian Insurance Group currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good).
The top five writers of private passenger automobile insurance in Florida in 2006, according to A.M. Best state/line data, were: State Farm Group, with a 21.5% market share; Allstate Insurance Group, with 14.3%; Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group, with 12.7%; Progressive Insurance Group, with 11.2%; and USAA Group, with a 4.4% market share.
In 2006, the top five writers of homeowners multi-peril in Florida, according to A.M. Best Co. state/line product information based on direct premiums written, were: State Farm Group, with a 19.6% market share; Citizens Property Insurance Corp., with 17.6%; Allstate Insurance Group, with 7.1%; Tower Hill Group, with 4.7%; and Universal P&C Insurance Co., with 4.6%.