Florida suspends Allstate new policy sales

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's insurance commissioner said on Wednesday he suspended Allstate Cos from writing new policies in the state because it had not fully complied with a subpoena to testify about its property insurance business.

"We're going to hit them where it hurts," Kevin McCarty, commissioner of the Office of Insurance Regulation, angrily told reporters.

Allstate issued a statement saying it was surprised by the move and that it was still evaluating its options.

"Allstate is committed to working diligently with the Office of Insurance Regulation to create solutions and ensure there is a healthy insurance market for Florida consumers," spokesman Adam Shores said.

The suspension mainly affects new auto policies, since Allstate had said previously it planned to reduce its homeowner policy exposure in Florida while increasing its 14 percent share of the state's auto insurance business.

McCarty's action came a day after Allstate officials appeared before state regulators to testify on proposed rate increases in Allstate's property insurance business.

Company officials had been scheduled to testify for two days. But state officials called off the hearing after less than three hours when the Allstate officials refused to answer questions and to provide specific documents.

Allstate requested a 41 percent rate increase after Florida lawmakers passed legislation to increase the state's hurricane catastrophe fund by $12 billion.

McCarty said the suspension would remain in effect until Allstate fully complied with the subpoena. His order bars the company from writing new policies but allows it to renew existing ones, McCarty said.

State investigators have been trying to determine if Allstate and other companies colluded to prevent property insurance rates from dropping despite the legislative action last year aimed at reducing premiums.

The issue is a major one in a state reeling from a sinking real estate market and huge increases in premiums since eight hurricanes crisscrossed Florida in 2004 and 2005, when insurers paid out about $35 billion in claims.

Allstate, the nation's largest publicly traded insurer, is among a number of companies under the microscope because of the cost of insurance in Florida, where high premiums have been blamed for driving out residents.

Allstate is Florida's third-largest property insurer and is the nation's second-largest auto insurer, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

The company had said on Monday that it produced 40,000 pages of documents and would produce more but that the subpoena's 59-paragraph request was "breath-taking" in scope.

McCarty said the documents the company supplied were mostly already public, and were not what was requested.

"In view of Allstate's ongoing, blatant disregard for the laws of the state of Florida, I have little choice but to take action to clearly communicate that Florida will no longer be held hostage by this company," McCarty said.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist applauded McCarty's decision and said Allstate had acted with "an unconscionable disregard for this process and their customers."

"It is clear to me that Allstate must have something to hide if they are unwilling to comply with the commissioner's requests," the governor said.

(Writing by Jane Sutton; Editing by Toni Reinhold)