The Florida Insurance Department filed a consent order against FedNat Insurance Company and its sister companies Maison Insurance Company and Monarch National Insurance Company on April 21, 2022. Maison Insurance Company is a foreign insurer domiciled in Louisiana, and Monarch National is a domestic company. Maison is not rated by Demotech and Monarch National is rated "A" by Demotech, and its rating has remained unchanged. All three companies operate under the FedNat Holding Company (FNHC), and all three companies consented to the order.
As of March 31, these companies collectively insured 152,000 policies in Florida and 96,000 policies in Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas and Mississippi. This order was the result of FedNat losing its "A" rating from Demotech on April 15, 2022 and its being downgraded to a "S" rating. The loss of an "A" rating means that mortgage lenders such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer accept their policies on properties backed by their mortgages, and policyholders may be required to seek new policies in a market already suffering a meltdown in Florida if FedNat cannot regain its "A" rating.
The consent order requires that FedNat file a strategic plan with the state by April 29, 2022. The plan needs to demonstrate that the companies' have the ability to acquire additional capital, to secure and maintain an acceptable financial strength rating to the secondary mortgage market, and to acquire sufficient reinsurance at their July 1, 2022 renewal. The order also requires that the company address their non-Florida claims and policies which were cited by Demotech as part of the basis for the recent ratings downgrade of FedNat.
In addition, FedNat's recently filed 10K report indicated that management believes that there is significant concern that the company will be able to continue as a going concern under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Catastrophic weather events late in the first quarter of 2022 along with the Demotech downgrade were the basis of this conclusion. Should the company fail in their implementation of their strategic plan or fail to address these matters to the satisfaction of the department, additional regulatory action may be taken against them.
Consent orders are one of the mechanisms used when an insurance department has identified a financially troubled insurer, and is usually one of the first steps of regulatory action to correct one or more deficiencies in the company. The department gains the consent of the insurer and the insurer agrees to address these deficiencies within the time period contained in the order or will be subject to additional regulatory action if they are not properly addressed.