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Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation (Policies)
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Nature of Operations

Nature of Operations

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (“UIH”) is a Delaware corporation originally incorporated as Universal Heights, Inc. in November 1990. UIH and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) are a vertically integrated insurance holding company performing all aspects of insurance underwriting, distribution and claims. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (“UPCIC”) and American Platinum Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“APPCIC”), collectively referred to as the “Insurance Entities”, the Company is principally engaged in the property and casualty insurance business offered primarily through a network of independent agents. Risk from catastrophic losses is managed through the use of reinsurance agreements. The Company’s primary product is homeowners insurance offered in eight states as of June 30, 2014, including Florida, which comprises the vast majority of the Company’s in-force policies. See “—Note 5 (Insurance Operations)” for more information regarding the Company’s insurance operations.

The Company generates revenues primarily from the collection of premiums and the investment of available funds in excess of those retained for claims-paying obligations and insurance operations. Other significant sources of revenue include commissions collected from reinsurers and policy fees.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The Company has prepared the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (“Financial Statements”) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements. Therefore, the Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the SEC on March 3, 2014. The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2013, was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation have been included in the Financial Statements. The results for interim periods do not necessarily indicate the results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the full year.

To conform to current period presentation, certain amounts in the prior periods’ consolidated financial statements and notes have been reclassified. Such reclassifications were of an immaterial amount and had no effect on net income or stockholders’ equity.

The Financial Statements include the accounts of UIH and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Management must make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in the Company’s Financial Statements and in disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In July 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued accounting guidance on the presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss or a tax credit carryforward exists. Under this guidance, an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, should generally be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward. This guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2013, but earlier adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2014. The adoption did not have an impact on the presentation of the Company’s financial statements and notes herein.

In June 2011, the FASB updated its guidance to the Comprehensive Income Topic 220 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and in February 2013, the FASB further amended such topic. This February 2013 guidance requires disclosure about amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by component. In addition, an entity is required to present, either on the face of the statement of operations or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income, but only if the amount reclassified is required to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. For amounts that are not required to be reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures that provide additional detail about those amounts. This guidance is to be applied prospectively to interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2013. The adoption of this guidance results in additional disclosures but did not impact the Company’s results of operations, cash flows or financial position. The updated guidance provided by the FASB in June 2011 increases the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income by eliminating the option of presenting components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders’ equity. The guidance requires that total comprehensive income (including both the net income components and other comprehensive income components) be reported in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income (the approach currently used in the Company’s financial statements), or two separate but consecutive statements. This guidance is to be applied retrospectively to fiscal years (and interim periods within those years) beginning after December 15, 2011. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2012. The adoption did not have an impact on the presentation of the Company’s financial statements and notes herein, as the Company has presented amounts of other comprehensive income consistent with this updated guidance.