Back to GetFilings.com

Table of Contents

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Form 10-K

Commission file number 0-3722

ATLANTIC AMERICAN CORPORATION

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $1.00 par value

      Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     Yes þ          No o

      Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.     þ

      Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).     Yes o          No þ.

      The aggregate market value of voting and nonvoting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 28, 2002, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $13,243,235. On March 20, 2003 there were 21,170,645 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $1.00 per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

      1. Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, to be held on May 6, 2003, have been incorporated by reference in Items 10, 11, 12 and 13 of Part III of this Form 10-K.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1

Table of Contents

PART I

Item 1.     Business

The Company

      Atlantic American Corporation, a Georgia corporation incorporated in 1968 (the “Parent” or “Company”), is a holding company that operates through its subsidiaries in well-defined specialty markets of the life, health, property and casualty insurance industries. Atlantic American’s principal subsidiaries are American Southern Insurance Company and American Safety Insurance Company (collectively known as “American Southern”), Association Casualty Insurance Company and Association Risk Management General Agency, Inc. (collectively known as “Association Casualty”), Georgia Casualty & Surety Company, (“Georgia Casualty”) and Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company (“Bankers Fidelity”).

      The Company’s strategy is to focus on well-defined geographic, demographic and/or product niches within the insurance market place. The underwriting function of each of the Company’s subsidiaries operates with relative autonomy, which allows for quick reaction to market opportunities. In addition, the Company seeks to develop and expand cross-selling opportunities and other synergies among its subsidiaries as they arise.

Casualty Operations

      The Company’s casualty operations are composed of three distinct entities, American Southern, Association Casualty and Georgia Casualty. The primary products offered by the casualty group are described below, followed by an overview of each company.

	Workers’ Compensation Insurance policies provide indemnity and medical benefits to insured workers for injuries sustained in the course of their employment.
	Business Automobile Insurance policies provide for bodily injury and/or property damage liability coverage, uninsured motorists coverage, and physical damage coverage to commercial accounts.
	General Liability Insurance policies cover bodily injury and property damage liability for both premises and completed operations exposures for general classes of business.
	Property Insurance policies provide for payment of losses on real and personal property caused by fire and other multiple perils.
	Personal Automobile Insurance policies provide for bodily injury and property damage liability coverage, uninsured motorists coverage, and physical damage coverage for individuals.

      American Southern. American Southern provides tailored fleet automobile and long-haul physical damage insurance coverage, on a multi-year contract basis, to state governments, local municipalities and other large motor pools and fleets (“block accounts”) that can be specifically rated and underwritten. The size of the block accounts insured by American Southern are such that individual class experience generally can be determined, which allows for customized policy terms and rates. American Southern produces business in 16 of the 24 states in the Southeast and Midwest in which it is authorized to conduct business. Additionally, American Southern provides personal automobile insurance to the members of the Carolina Motor Club, an AAA affiliate. While the majority of American Southern’s premiums are derived from auto liability and auto physical damage, American Southern also provides property, general liability and surety coverage.

2

Table of Contents

      The following table summarizes, for the periods indicated, the allocation of American Southern’s net earned premiums for each of its principal product lines:

      Georgia Casualty. Georgia Casualty is a property-casualty insurance company providing workers’ compensation, property, general liability, automobile, umbrella, inland marine and mechanical breakdown coverage to businesses throughout the Southeastern United States. Georgia Casualty’s primary marketing focus is toward small to middle market accounts with low to moderate hazard grades, ranging from $15,000 to $250,000 in written premiums. In addition to the wide range of commercial products available, Georgia Casualty offers customized products for nine classes of business, including, but not limited to, light manufacturing, restaurants, golf clubs and artisan contractors. These products, along with innovative risk management services and exceptional claims handling, are offered through an exclusive network of independent agents. Georgia Casualty is licensed to do business in thirteen states. Its principal marketing territories include Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

      The following table summarizes, for the periods indicated, the allocation of Georgia Casualty’s net earned premiums for each of its principal product lines:

      Association Casualty. Association Casualty is a property-casualty insurance company that has historically written primarily workers’ compensation in the state of Texas. Recently, Association Casualty has begun to diversify its book of business and now offers commercial property, commercial automobile, general liability, umbrella and inland marine coverages throughout Texas, in addition to workers’ compensation. Association Casualty has adopted a strategy consistent with that of Georgia Casualty and is focused on small to middle market accounts with low to moderate hazard grades, ranging from $15,000 to $250,000 in written premium. In addition to this wide range of products, customized coverages are offered to six classes of business, including restaurants, light manufacturing and country clubs. These particular products are coupled with specialized loss control and claims services and are offered through an exclusive network of independent agents. Association Casualty is licensed to do business in eight states.

3

Table of Contents

      The following table summarizes, for the periods indicated, the allocation of Association Casualty’s net earned premiums for each of its principal product lines since its acquisition by the Company.

(1)	Includes results for the period July 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999.

      Bankers Fidelity. Bankers Fidelity constitutes the life and health operations of the Company and offers a variety of life and supplemental health products with a focus on the senior markets. Products offered by Bankers Fidelity include: ordinary life, Medicare supplement, cancer, and other supplemental health insurance products. Health business, primarily Medicare supplement, accounted for 74.6% of Bankers Fidelity’s net premiums in 2002. Life insurance, including both whole and term life insurance policies, accounted for 25.4% of Bankers Fidelity’s premiums in 2002. In terms of the number of policies written in 2002, 53% were life policies and 47% were health policies.

      The following table summarizes, for the periods indicated, the allocation of Bankers Fidelity’s net premiums earned for each of its principal product lines followed by a brief description of the principal products:

      Life Products include non-participating individual term and whole life insurance policies with a variety of riders and options.

      Medicare Supplement includes 5 of the 10 standardized Medicare supplement policies created under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (“OBRA 1990”), which are designed to provide insurance coverage for certain expenses not covered by the Medicare program, including copayments and deductibles.

      Cancer, Accident & Other Health Coverages include several policies providing for payment of benefits in connection with the treatment of diagnosed cancer, as well as a number of other policies including convalescent care, accident expense, hospital/surgical and disability.

4

Table of Contents

Marketing

      American Southern. American Southern’s business is marketed through a small number of specialized, experienced independent agents. Most of American Southern’s agents are paid a moderate up-front commission with the potential for additional commission by participating in a profit sharing arrangement that is directly linked to the profitability of the business generated. In addition, a significant portion (approximately 33% of total written premium in 2002) of American Southern’s premiums are assumed from third parties. In arrangements similar to those with its agents, the premium assumed from some of these parties is adjusted based upon the profitability of the assumed business. During 1998, American Southern formed American Auto Club Insurance Agency, LLC in a 50/50 joint venture with the AAA of the Carolinas motor club to market personal automobile insurance to the members of the automobile club. This program produced gross written premiums of approximately $7.1 million during 2002.

      Association Casualty. Association Casualty is represented by a field force of 75 independent agencies with 120 locations in Texas for the sale and distribution of its insurance products. Each agency is a party to a standard agency contract that sets forth the commission structure and other terms and can be terminated by either party. Association Casualty also offers a contingent profit sharing arrangement that allows profitable agents to earn additional commissions when specific loss experience and premium growth goals are achieved. Marketing efforts are handled by an experienced staff of insurance professionals, and complimented by the assistance of the underwriting, loss control and claims staffs.

      Georgia Casualty. Georgia Casualty is represented by a field force of 63 independent agencies with 105 locations in eight states for the sale and distribution of its insurance products. Each agency is a party to a standard agency contract that sets forth the commission structure and other terms and can be terminated by either party upon thirty days written notice. Georgia Casualty also offers a contingent profit-sharing arrangement that allows profitable agents to earn additional commissions when specific loss experience and premium growth goals are achieved. Marketing efforts, directed by experienced marketing professionals, are complemented by the underwriting, risk management, and audit staffs of Georgia Casualty, who are available to assist agents in the presentation of all insurance products and services to their insureds.

      Bankers Fidelity. Bankers Fidelity markets its policies through commissioned, independent agents. In general, Bankers Fidelity enters contractual arrangements with general agents who, in turn, contract with independent agents. The standard agreements set forth the commission arrangements and are terminable by either party upon thirty days written notice. General agents receive an override commission on sales made by agents contracted by them. Management believes utilizing direct writing, experienced agents, as well as independent general agents who recruit and train their own agents, is cost effective. All independent agents are compensated on a pure commission basis. Using independent agents also enables Bankers Fidelity to expand or contract their sales forces at any time without incurring significant additional expense.

      Bankers Fidelity has implemented a selective agent qualification process and had 2,885 licensed agents as of December 31, 2002. The agents concentrate their sales activities in either the accident and health or life insurance product lines. During 2002, a total of 1,346 agents wrote policies on behalf of Bankers Fidelity.

      Products of Bankers Fidelity compete directly with products offered by other insurance companies, as agents may represent several insurance companies. Bankers Fidelity, in an effort to motivate agents to market its products, offers the following agency services: a unique lead system, competitive products and commission structures, efficient claims service, prompt payment of commissions, simplified policy issue

5

Table of Contents

      Bankers Fidelity utilizes a distribution sales system which is centered around a lead generation plan that rewards qualified agents with leads in accordance with monthly production goals. In addition, a protected territory is established for each qualified agent, which entitles them to all leads produced within that territory. The territories are zip code or county based and encompass sufficient geographical territory to produce a minimum senior population of 12,000. Bankers Fidelity also recruits at a general agent level rather than at a managing general agent level in an effort to reduce commission expenses further.

      The Company believes this distribution system solves an agent’s most important dilemma — prospecting — and allows Bankers Fidelity to build long-term relationships with individual producers who view Bankers Fidelity as their primary company. In addition, management believes that Bankers Fidelity’s product line is less sensitive to competitor pricing and commissions because of the perceived value of the protected territory and the lead generation plan. In protected geographical areas, production per agent compares favorably to unprotected areas served by the general brokerage division.

Underwriting

     Casualty Operations

      American Southern specializes in the handling of block accounts, such as states and municipalities that generally are sufficiently large to establish separate class experience, relying upon the underwriting expertise of its agents. In contrast, Georgia Casualty and Association Casualty internally underwrite all of their accounts.

      During the course of the policy year, extensive use is made of risk management representatives to assist underwriters in identifying and correcting potential loss exposures and to pre-inspect a majority of the new underwritten accounts. The results of each product line are reviewed on a stand-alone basis. When the results are below expectations, management takes appropriate corrective action which may include raising rates, reviewing underwriting standards, reducing commissions paid to agents, altering or declining to renew accounts at expiration, and/or terminating agencies with an unprofitable book of business.

      American Southern also acts as a reinsurer with respect to all of the risks associated with certain automobile policies issued by various state administrative agencies, naming the state and various local governmental entities as insureds. Premiums written from such policies constituted $18.7 million, or 38.5%, of American Southern’s gross premiums written in 2002. For 2002, premiums assumed of $18.7 million included a single state contract of $14.3 million. These contracts are periodically subject to competitive renewal quotes and the loss of a significant contract could have a material adverse effect on the business or financial condition of the Company. (See Note 8 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.)

     Life and Health Operations

      Bankers Fidelity issues a variety of products for both life and health, which includes senior life products typically with small face amounts of not less than $1,000 and up to $30,000 and Medicare Supplement. The majority of its products are “Yes” or “No” applications that are underwritten on a non-medical basis. Bankers Fidelity offers products to all age groups; however its primary focus is the senior market. For life products other than the senior market, Bankers Fidelity may require medical information such as medical examinations subject to age and face amount based on published guidelines. Approximately 95% of the net premiums earned for both life and health insurance sold during 2002 were derived from insurance written below Bankers Fidelity’s medical limits. For the senior market, Bankers Fidelity issues products primarily on an accept-or-reject basis with face amounts up to $30,000 for ages 45-70, $20,000 for ages 71-80 and $10,000 for ages 81-85. Bankers Fidelity retains a maximum amount of $50,000 with respect to any individual life (see “Reinsurance”).

      Applications for insurance are reviewed to determine the face amount, age, and medical history. Depending upon information obtained from the insured, Medical Information Bureau (M.I.B.) report,

6

Table of Contents

Policyholder and Claims Services

      The Company believes that prompt, efficient policyholder and claims services are essential to its continued success in marketing its insurance products (see “Competition”). Additionally, the Company believes that its insureds are particularly sensitive to claims processing time and to the accessibility of qualified staff to answer inquiries. Accordingly, the Company’s policyholder and claims services seek to offer expeditious disposition of service requests by providing toll-free access to all customers, 24-hour claim reporting services, and direct computer links with some of its largest accounts. The Company also utilizes a state-of-the-art automatic call distribution system to insure that inbound calls to customer service support groups are processed efficiently. Operational data generated from this system allows management to further refine ongoing client service programs and service representative training modules.

      The Company supports a Customer Awareness Program as the basis for its customer service philosophy. All personnel are required to attend customer service classes. Hours have been expanded in all service areas to serve customers and agents in all time zones.

     Casualty Operations

      American Southern, Association Casualty, and Georgia Casualty control their claims costs by utilizing an in-house staff of claim supervisors to investigate, verify, negotiate and settle claims. Upon notification of an occurrence purportedly giving rise to a claim, the claims department conducts a preliminary investigation, determines whether an insurable event has occurred and, if so, records the claim. The casualty companies frequently utilize independent adjusters and appraisers to service claims which require on-site inspections.

     Life and Health Operations

      Insureds obtain claim forms by calling the claims department customer service group. To shorten claim processing time, a letter detailing all supporting documents that are required to complete a claim for a particular policy is sent to the customer along with the correct claim form. With respect to life policies, the claim is entered into Bankers Fidelity’s claims system when the proper documentation is received. Properly documented claims are generally paid within three to nine business days of receipt. With regard to Medicare Supplement policies, the claim is either directly billed to Bankers Fidelity by the provider or sent electronically by using a Medicare clearing house.

7

Table of Contents

Reserves

      The following table sets forth information concerning the Company’s reserves for losses and claims and reserves for loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) for the periods indicated:

     Casualty Operations

      Atlantic American’s casualty operations maintain loss reserves representing estimates of amounts necessary for payment of losses and LAE. The casualty operations also maintain incurred but not reported reserves and bulk reserves for future development. These loss reserves are estimates, based on known facts and circumstances at a given point in time, of amounts the insurer expects to pay on incurred claims. All balances are reviewed quarterly and annually by qualified internal actuaries. Reserves for LAE are intended to cover the ultimate costs of settling claims, including investigation and defense of lawsuits resulting from such claims. Loss reserves for reported claims are based on a case-by-case evaluation of the type of claim involved, the circumstances surrounding the claim, and the policy provisions relating to the type of loss along with anticipated future development. The LAE for claims reported and claims not reported is based on historical statistical data and anticipated future development. Inflation and other factors which may affect claim payments are implicitly reflected in the reserving process through analysis of cost trends and reviews of historical reserve results.

      The casualty operations establish reserves for claims based upon: (a) management’s estimate of ultimate liability and claims adjusters’ evaluations for unpaid claims reported prior to the close of the accounting period, (b) estimates of incurred but not reported claims based on past experience, and (c) estimates of LAE. The estimated liability is continually reviewed and updated, and changes to the estimated liability are recorded in the statement of operations in the year in which such changes become known.

      The table on the following page sets forth the development of the statutory balance sheet reserves for unpaid losses and LAE for the casualty operations’ insurance lines for 1992 through 2002, including periods prior to the Company’s ownership of American Southern and Association Casualty. Specifically excluded from the table on the following page are the life and health divisions’ claims reserves, which are included in the consolidated claims reserves determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Further, statutory reserves represent claims reserves, net of related reinsurance receivables; whereas reserves reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles are reported on a gross basis. Management believes statutory reserve development to be meaningful and relevant as it is among the primary financial data used by regulators and rating agencies in evaluating the Company’s

8

Table of Contents

      The reserve estimates are modified as more information becomes known about the frequency and severity of claims for individual years. The “cumulative redundancy or deficiency” for each year represents the aggregate change in such year’s estimates through the end of 2002. In evaluating this information, it should be noted that the amount of the redundancy or deficiency for any year represents the cumulative amount of the changes from initial reserve estimates for such year. Operations for any one year are only affected, favorably or unfavorably, by the amount of the change in the estimate for such year. Conditions and trends that have affected development of the reserves in the past may not necessarily occur in the future. Accordingly, it is inappropriate to predict future redundancies or deficiencies based on the data in this table.

9