While consumers have been fretting about the safety of their policies at large, publicly traded insurers, some smaller, less-watched companies have been running into trouble too.
Insurers of all sizes are being slammed by investment losses. Some also are being dragged down by higher-than-expected claims in areas like long-term-care insurance. Regulators have taken over companies with policies owned by more than half a million people in more than 30 states, including life insurance and annuities. At one insurer, a receiver has imposed a moratorium on policyholders taking cash out of their policies or turning them in for cash.
Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., a small insurer based in Roanoke, Va., recently fell below state requirements for capital and cash reserves because of its investments in mortgage-backed securities, which were hammered in the housing meltdown. Shenandoah has stopped selling new policies and has instituted a moratorium on policyholders cashing out, selling, surrendering or borrowing from their contracts. The company is continuing to pay death and annuity benefits as well as health-insurance claims. The state receiver who has been running Shenandoah since last month declined to comment.
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