The hearing, which at times verged on hostility, is a result of Florida regulators’ attempts to closely examine the business practices of insurers in light of Allstate's and other companies' pursuit of rate increases last year, despite a new law designed to reduce premiums for homeowners when rates soared after eight hurricanes hit the state in 2004 and 2005.
The hearing was scheduled to last two days but Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty stopped it after less than three hours because the documents had not been submitted.
McCarty said regulators are looking, in part, at possible collusion in the industry. The state subpoenaed records from Allstate-affiliated companies in October, but many of the documents had not been handed over by Tuesday's hearing.
At one point during the hearing, McCarty asked company officials what they had to "hide" and accused them of selectively providing documents.But George Grawe, an Allstate attorney, responded that the insurer has sent about 40,000 pages of documents to the state in "waves" and is trying to comply with the subpoenas, which he calls “breathtakingly broad in their scope.”
McCarty also said he will consider penalizing Allstate, with possible punishments ranging from fines all the way to revocation of the insurer's ability to do business in the state.