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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Leases The Company is obligated under various non-cancellable lease agreements providing for office space, automobiles, office equipment, and EDP equipment that expire at various dates through the year 2028. See Note 7. Leases for additional information on leases and future lease payments as of December 31, 2022. California Earthquake Authority ("CEA") The CEA is a quasi-governmental organization that was established to provide a market for earthquake coverage to California homeowners. The Company places all new and renewal earthquake coverage offered with its homeowners policies directly with the CEA. The Company receives a small fee for placing business with the CEA, which is recorded as other income in the consolidated statements of operations. Upon the occurrence of a major seismic event, the CEA has the ability to assess participating companies for losses. These assessments are made after CEA capital has been expended and are based upon each company’s participation percentage multiplied by the amount of the total assessment. Based upon the most recent information provided by the CEA, the Company’s maximum total exposure to CEA assessments at April 30, 2022, the most recent date at which information was available, was approximately $76.7 million. There was no assessment made in 2022. Regulatory and Legal Matters On October 5, 2021, the Company received a letter from the California DOI requesting additional information on the amount of premium refunds or credits that the Company has provided or plans to further provide to its private passenger automobile policyholders, and the methodology used in determining such refunds or credits for the time period of March 2020 through at least March 2021, due to reduced driving during the pandemic. On October 6, 2021, the California DOI issued a press release alleging that the Company and two other insurers have not provided enough premium relief to the policyholders through premium refunds or credits for lower frequency resulting from reduced driving during the pandemic. Two private actions against the Company were also filed during the first quarter of 2022, asserting substantially the same arguments on behalf of an alleged class of similarly situated policyholders, and seeking restitution of the allegedly excessive premiums charged during the pandemic. On November 21, 2022, after its review of loss and expense data requested from and provided by the Company, the California DOI notified the Company that an additional total refund of approximately $52 million should be provided to its private passenger automobile policyholders, purportedly based upon its analysis of the Company’s data. The Company believes that the amounts returned to-date, including the mileage reductions on individual policies, have provided appropriate and material relief to its policyholders and that there is no legal basis for the California DOI or the courts to require the Company to issue additional refunds. The total amount of premiums returned to the Company's policyholders through refunds or credits is approximately $128 million, which reduced its net premiums earned for 2020. The Company has also worked with its agents and policyholders to reclassify exposures on an individual policy basis, including reducing mileage on a large number of vehicles since the pandemic began. Management believes the mileage reductions have significantly reduced premiums on those individual policies in a manner consistent with the Company’s filed and approved rates. Although the Company cannot predict whether or not the California DOI or private plaintiffs will take further actions against the Company related to the premium refunds and credits, which may include attempting to induce the Company to provide additional premium refunds to its policyholders, the Company maintains that such relief is barred as a matter of law. The Company cannot reasonably estimate the amount of such additional refunds or other losses, if any, due to any potential actions by the California DOI or the courts and the Company's responses to such actions. The Company is engaged in settlement discussions with the California DOI regarding voluntary refunds or credits and future rate increases. On September 10, 2021, the California DOI served the Company a Notice of Non-Compliance ("NNC"), alleging violations in connection with its 2014 Rating & Underwriting Examination Report, which was adopted by the California DOI in 2019. The NNC itemizes alleged violations, many of which management believes were corrected or otherwise resolved during the course of the examination, and seeks penalties. The Company has participated in lengthy and detailed discussions with the California DOI since the adoption of the examination report, in an attempt to address the issues deemed unresolved by the California DOI, and has taken several additional corrective actions approved by the California DOI. The Company is continuing discussions with the California DOI to resolve the outstanding issues, or at least obtain the agreement of the California DOI to remove the resolved items from the NNC before proceeding to a formal hearing process if a settlement is not reached. On August 1, 2022, the California DOI publicly announced its intention to pursue an administrative action against the Company with respect to certain outstanding issues. The Company filed a written response to the NNC on September 29, 2022. The response, consisting of a notice of defense, a motion to strike, and a motion to dismiss, challenges the NNC on procedural and substantive grounds. On November 9, 2022, the California DOI served objections and non-substantive responses to the Company's discovery requests. The Company is continuing settlement discussions with the California DOI. The parties are also conferring regarding the California DOI’s defective discovery responses, and the possible filing of an Amended NNC that would eliminate the resolved items and identify the remaining issues in dispute should the matter proceed to a hearing. The Company cannot reasonably predict the likelihood, timing or outcome of any hearing process or administrative action, nor can it reasonably estimate the amount of penalties, if any. The Company is, from time to time, named as a defendant in various lawsuits or regulatory actions incidental to its insurance business. The majority of lawsuits brought against the Company relate to insurance claims that arise in the normal course of business and are reserved for through the reserving process. For a discussion of the Company’s reserving methods, see Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies. The Company also establishes accruals for estimated liabilities for non-insurance claims related lawsuits, regulatory actions, and other contingencies when the Company believes a loss is probable and is able to estimate its potential exposure. For loss contingencies believed to be reasonably possible, the Company also discloses the nature of the loss contingency and an estimate of the possible loss, range of loss, or a statement that such an estimate cannot be made. In addition, the Company accrues for anticipated legal defense costs associated with such lawsuits and regulatory actions. While actual losses may differ from the amounts recorded and the ultimate outcome of the Company’s pending actions is generally not yet determinable, the Company does not believe that the ultimate resolution of currently pending legal or regulatory proceedings, either individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or cash flows. The Company is also involved in proceedings relating to assessments made by the FTB. See Note 11. Income Taxes.

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