NU Online News Service, Aug. 26, 3:46 p.m.EDT

Two Florida commercial and personal lines insurers with 18,000policyholders have been ordered into liquidation, it wasannounced.

The order for First Commercial Insurance Company and subsidiary,First Commercial Transportation and Property Insurance Company, wasissued by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Charles A. Francis, theFlorida Department of Financial Services said.

DFS said it has been acting as the Miami-based carriers'receiver since July 10, when the companies consented to be placedin receivership for the purpose of rehabilitation.

Floridians who have property insurance with FCIC shouldimmediately contact their insurance agent to secure coverage with anew company, the department advised.

The department said all questions relating to current FCIC andFCTPIC policy and coverage issues should be directed toFCIC/FCTPIC's customer service department at (866) 570-2184 untilSeptember 23.

FCIC wrote workers' compensation, commercial auto, generalliability and commercial multiperil insurance policies in Floridaand Georgia, the DFS said.

FCTPIC wrote commercial auto insurance coverage in Florida.Together, the companies have approximately 18,000 in-forcepolicies. The liquidation orders and other related information canbe found at http://www.myfloridacfo.com/Receiver/.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said in a statement,"Given that this liquidation order comes in the middle of thehurricane season, it is imperative that consumers who have propertyinsurance with First Commercial immediately contact their agents tosecure new coverage."

She said her department will continue working "to help make thetransition as smooth as possible for Floridians."

After appointment as receiver, the DFS said it discovered thatFCIC sold over 2,000 automobile service warranty policies that werenot reflected in the company's books, records and financialstatements.

The department said it is investigating this matter further andby Court Order, all automobile service warranty policies written byFCIC were cancelled as of Aug. 24, the date of liquidation.

With the exception of the automobile service warranty policies,all policies are cancelled effective 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 23, unlessotherwise terminated prior to that date, DFS explained.

The department said this includes approximately 550 commercialauto insurance coverage or "for hire" insurance policies written byFCTPIC and approximately 100 in-force policies written by FCIC forGeorgia policyholders.

The department recommended that policyholders take the followingsteps based on the different types of policies issued by FCTPIC andFCIC:

o Workers' compensation policies are covered by the FloridaWorkers' Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association. The number tocheck on the status of an existing claim is 800-444-9098, extension531, and the number to file a First Notice of Injury is407-352-5788 or via e-mail at [email protected].Additional general information is available at www.fwciga.org.

o Property and casualty insurance policies are covered by theFlorida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA). Florida claimantscan check on the status of an existing claim by calling866-928-4310 or file a new claim by contacting their agent.

Florida policyholders with property and casualty policies, thedepartment said, will be able to place unearned premium claims withFIGA after the department completes its processing of the policyrecords and sends the unearned premium records to FIGA. Claims ofGeorgia policyholders may be covered by the Georgia InsurersInsolvency Pool which may be reached at 770-621-9835.

Policyholders who want to file a claim in the receivershipestate for amounts not covered by a guaranty association will needto do so before the claims filing deadline, DFS said. The deadlinefor filing claims in the FCIC/FCTPIC receiverships is 11:59 p.m. onAug. 17, 2010.