In January the state's Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) suspended Allstate, stating it had not fully complied with a subpoena to testify about its property insurance business. Allstate immediately appealed and won a stay allowing it to continue writing policies.
Florida investigators were trying to determine if Allstate and other companies colluded to prevent property insurance rates from dropping despite legislative action last year to reduce premiums.
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty in a statement issued immediately after the ruling by the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee said the suspension would be enforced immediately. But later in the day at a conference he stated that Allstate had 15 days to appeal and he was not sure when the suspension would take effect.
Allstate said it was reviewing the ruling but believed it was not yet final and would continue to write new business.
Nonetheless, McCarty said: "This is good news for the people of Florida. This is good news for all those law-abiding companies doing business in our state."