Pennsylvania insurance regulators liquidate surety bond insurer
02/10/2012
On February 8, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered First Sealord Surety,
Inc. into liquidation. According to the court order, the Pennsylvania insurance commissioner
had petitioned for liquidation, rather than the more common first step of an attempt at
rehabilitation, because the insurer had experienced a steep drop in its surplus that fell too
far too fast to allow for a rehabilitation attempt.
The insurer had been operating since 1991 as a mono-line surety bond insurer and had,
until recently, offered surety coverage across 39 states. As of September 30, 2011, First
Sealord reported capital of $5.1 million and losses year to date of $6.7 million. Weiss stopped
coverage in 2010 because of insufficient information to reliably issue a rating.
The order further stated that any surety bonds in force will expire at the latest within
30 days. All claims must be filed with the liquidator by October 5, 2012.
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