FACO First Acceptance Corporation (QX)

General

First Acceptance Corporation (the “Company,” “we” or “us”) is principally a retailer, servicer and underwriter of non-standard personal automobile insurance based in Nashville, Tennessee. Our insurance operations generate revenue from selling non-standard personal automobile insurance products and related products in 16 states. We currently conduct our insurance servicing and underwriting operations in 13 states and operate only as an insurance agency in three states. We are also licensed as an insurance company in 13 states where we do not conduct any business. We own and operate three insurance company subsidiaries: First Acceptance Insurance Company, Inc. (“FAIC”), First Acceptance Insurance Company of Georgia, Inc. (“FAIC-GA”) and First Acceptance Insurance Company of Tennessee, Inc. (“FAIC-TN”). Non-standard personal automobile insurance is sought after by individuals because of their inability or unwillingness to obtain standard insurance coverage due to various factors, including payment history, payment preference, failure in the past to maintain continuous insurance coverage or driving record and/or vehicle type. At December 31, 2017, we leased and operated 350 retail locations and a call center staffed with employee-agents. Our employee-agents primarily sell non-standard personal automobile insurance products underwritten by us and through third-party carriers for which we receive a commission. We also offer a variety of additional commissionable products, and, in most states, our employee-agents also sell an insurance product providing personal property and liability coverage for renters that is underwritten by us. In addition to our retail locations, we are able to complete the entire sales process over the phone via our call center or through the internet via our consumer-based website or mobile platform. On a limited basis, we also sell our products through selected retail locations operated by independent agents.

Personal Automobile Insurance Market

Personal automobile insurance is the largest line of property and casualty insurance in the United States with, according to A.M. Best, an estimated market size of over $200 billion in premiums earned based on the most recent market data available. Personal automobile insurance provides drivers with coverage for liability to others for bodily injury and property damage and for physical damage to the driver’s vehicle from collision and other perils. Some states require personal injury protection (“PIP or “no-fault”) which covers a driver for their own medical expenses and other damages, regardless of who was at fault in a covered accident.

The market for personal automobile insurance is generally divided into three product segments: non-standard, standard and preferred. We believe that the premiums earned in the non-standard automobile insurance market segment in the United States represent between 15% and 25% of the total personal automobile insurance market.

Tax Reform Legislation

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Act makes broad changes to U.S. federal tax law including but not limited to a reduction in the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and temporary differences related to the computation of tax loss and loss adjustment expense reserves and limitations on the interest expense deduction. 

The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118") to address situations where a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting under ASC Topic 740 for certain income tax effects of the Act for the reporting period of enactment. SAB 118 allows the Company to provide a provisional estimate of the impacts of the Act during a measurement period similar to the measurement period used when accounting for business combinations. Adjustments to provisional estimates and additional impacts from Tax Reform must be recorded as they are identified during the measurement period as provided for in SAB 118.

At December 31, 2017, we have made an estimate of the effects on our existing deferred tax balances and recognized a provisional amount of $12.5 million which is included as a component of the provision for income taxes. We remeasured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, which is 21% for federal purposes. However, we are still analyzing certain aspects of the Act and refining our calculations which could potentially affect the measurement of these balances as permitted under SAB 118. 

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Claims Frequency

Recent data has shown that miles driven across the United States has risen over the past several years. The following chart from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration shows how miles driven have increased from 2012 through October 2017.

Industry claim frequency has historically correlated closely with increases and decreases in miles driven.  Miles driven have risen over the past several years as the economy has improved and gas prices have remained low.  We believe this is a large contributing factor to the increased frequency we experienced in 2015 and 2016. While miles driven continued to increase throughout 2017, the rate of increase moderated, and as a result, claims frequency has leveled off.

In addition, distracted driving as a cause of automobile claims has increased as the use of smartphones has become more commonplace. The National Safety Council estimated that motor-vehicle deaths in 2016 were a 14% increase over 2014 – the most dramatic two-year escalation in over 50 years. They cited human behavioral factors as some of the biggest hazards on the road. Distracted driving topped their list as one of the most dangerous factors on the roads today—especially when combined with high traffic congestion.

Competition

The non-standard personal automobile insurance business is highly competitive. Our primary competition comes not only from national companies or their subsidiaries, but also from non-standard insurers and independent agents that operate only in specific regions or states. We compete against other vertically integrated insurance companies and independent agents that market insurance on behalf of a number of insurers. We compete with these other insurers on factors such as initial down payment, availability of monthly payment plans, price, customer service and claims service.

Our Business

As an insurance company, we are a vertically integrated business that acts as the agency, servicer and underwriter of non-standard personal automobile insurance and other ancillary products. We believe this business model allows us to identify and satisfy the needs of our target customers and eliminates many of the inefficiencies associated with a non-integrated automobile insurance model. Our retail locations and call center are staffed with employee-agents who primarily sell non-standard personal automobile insurance products underwritten by us, as well as additional commissionable products. This vertical integration, combined with our convenient sales channels, enables us to control the point of sale and to retain significant revenue that would otherwise be lost in a non-integrated insurance business model.

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We offer customers automobile insurance with low down payments, competitive monthly payments , convenient sales channels and a high level of personal service. This strategy makes it easier for our customers to obtain automobile insurance, which is legally mandated in the states in which we currently operate. Currently, our policy life expectancy i s lower than that of standard personal automobile insurance providers due to the payment patterns of our customers. However, we accept customers seeking insurance who have previously terminated coverage provided by us without imposing any additional requir ements on such customers. Our business model and systems allow us to issue policies efficiently and, when necessary, cancel them to minimize the potential for credit loss while adhering to regulatory cancellation notice requirements.

In addition to a low down payment and competitive monthly rates, we offer customers valuable face-to-face contact and speed of service as many of our customers prefer not to purchase a new automobile insurance policy over the phone or through the internet. The majority of our customers make their payments through our retail locations. For many of our customers, our employee-agents are not only the face of the Company, but also the preferred interface for buying insurance. All of our policies are issued at the point of sale.

However, in response to the increasing consumer demand to purchase personal automobile insurance over the phone and through the internet, we offer customers the ability to purchase a policy through an employee-agent in our call center or via our www.acceptance.com website and mobile platform. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 15% of our policies-in-force were sold through a non-retail sales channel.

In certain markets, our retail stores operate solely as insurance agencies where we earn commissions and fee income writing primarily non-standard automobile insurance policies on behalf of third-party insurance carriers. While this practice was once limited to the 82 former Titan Insurance retail locations acquired in 2015, we are expanding the use of third-party carriers in other selected markets across our footprint. The use of a “hybrid” model in which our stores write both our insurance policies and third-party polices, allows us to capitalize on the strengths of our agency model (i.e. retail locations, employee-agents, carrier relationships, technology and support staff) in situations where a third-party insurance policy may be better suited for our customer. Likewise, this practice will allow us to deploy our limi ted statutory capital and surplus where it will generate the highest return.  In doing so, we also began to expand the offerings in our stores of additional commissionable products written through other carriers for non-personal automobile coverages, including homeowners, renters, motorcycle life and commercial automobile.

Our Products

Our core business involves issuing automobile insurance policies categorized as “non-standard” to individuals based primarily on their inability or unwillingness to obtain insurance coverage from standard carriers due to various factors, including their payment history or need for monthly payment plans, failure to maintain continuous insurance coverage or driving record. We believe that a majority of our customers seek our no n-standard insurance due to our flexible payment terms and positive customer service experience, including dependable and direct interaction through our retail locations. These policies are written both through our insurance companies and third-party carriers. We also offer and underwrite through our insurance companies, a policy for renters that provides contents and liability coverage to those of our customers who are renters.

Through third-party carriers, we also offer our customers optional products that provide additional reimbursements and benefits in the event of an automobile accident. These products generally provide reimbursements for medical expenses and hospital stays as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident, automobile towing and rental, and ambulance services.  We also offer products through third-party carriers for homeowners, renters, motorcycle, life and commercial automobile.

Marketing

Our marketing strategy is based on creating top-of-mind brand recognition of our full suite of product offerings and encouraging prospective customers to purchase insurance by either visiting one of our retail locations or utilizing our phone or internet channels to bind a policy (“Call, click or come in.”). Our current advertising strategy is focused mainly on digital and social media channels, and incorporating strategic offline activities, such as community events, direct mail, outdoor and radio into this strategy.

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Distribution

We primarily distribute our products through our retail locations. We believe the local office concept remains attractive to many of our customers, as they desire the face-to-face assistance they cannot receive over the telephone or through the internet. However, in response to the increasing consumer demand to purchase personal automobile insurance over the phone and through the internet, we offer customers the choice to purchase a policy through an employee-agent in our call center or via our www.acceptance.com website and mobile platform. Approximately 15% of our policies-in-force were sold through a non-retail sales channel.  

Underwriting and Pricing

Our underwriting and pricing systems are fully automated. We believe that these systems provide a competitive advantage to us because they give us the ability to capture relevant pricing information, improve efficiencies, increase the accuracy and consistency of underwriting decisions and reduce training costs.

Pricing is generally based on the specific type of vehicle and the driver’s age, gender, marital status, driving experience, insurance score and location. We also review loss trends in each of the states in which we operate to assess the adequacy of our rates and underwriting standards, and make comparisons with competitors’ rates to achieve optimum results. We adjust rates periodically, as necessary, and as permitted by applicable regulatory authorities, to maintain or improve underwriting results in each market.

Claims Handling

Non-standard personal automobile insurance customers generally have a higher frequency of claims than preferred and standard personal automobile insurance customers. We strive to promptly assess and resolve claims and manage against fraud. Our claims process is designed to promote expedient, fair and consistent claims handling, while controlling loss adjustment expenses.

Our claims operation includes adjusters, appraisers, special investigators, a quality assurance team and claims administrative personnel. We conduct our claims operations out of Nashville, Tennessee and through regional claims offices in Tampa, Florida and Chicago, Illinois. Our employees generally handle all claims from the initial report of the claim until the final settlement. We believe that directly employing claims personnel, rather than using independent adjusters, results in improved customer service and lower costs. In territories where we do not believe a staff appraiser would be cost-effective, we utilize the services of independent appraisers and a network of qualified repair facilities to inspect physical damage to automobiles. The work of independent appraisers and qualified repair facilities is reviewed and managed by our regional material damage team.

Losses and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves

Automobile accidents generally result in insurance companies making payments (referred to as “losses”) to individuals or companies to compensate for physical damage to an automobile or other property and/or an injury to a person. Months and sometimes years may elapse between the occurrence of an accident, report of the accident to the insurer and payment of the claim. Insurers record a liability for estimates of losses that will be paid for accidents reported to them, which are referred to as case reserves. As accidents are not always reported promptly, insurers estimate incurred but not reported, or “IBNR,” reserves to cover expected losses for accidents that have occurred, but have not been reported to the insurer. Insurers also incur expenses in connection with the handling and settling of claims that are referred to as “loss adjustment expenses” and record a liability for the estimated costs to settle their expected unpaid losses.

We are directly liable for loss and loss adjustment expenses under the terms of the insurance policies underwritten by our insurance company subsidiaries. Each of our insurance company subsidiaries establishes a reserve for all of its unpaid losses, including case reserves and IBNR reserves, and estimates for the cost to settle the claims. We estimate our IBNR reserves by estimating our ultimate liability for loss and loss adjustment expense reserves first, and then reducing that amount by the amount of the cumulative paid claims and by the amount of our case reserves. We rely primarily on historical loss experience in determining reserve levels on the assumption that historical loss experience provides a good indication of future loss experience. We also consider other factors, such as inflation, claims settlement patterns, legislative activity and litigation trends. We review our loss and loss adjustment expense reserve estimates on a quarterly basis and adjust those reserves each quarter to reflect any favorable or unfavorable development as historical loss experience develops or new information becomes known. Our actuarial staff reviews our reserves and loss trends on a quarterly basis. We believe that the liabilities that we have recorded for unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses at December 31, 2017 are adequate to cover the final net cost of losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred through that date.

At December 31, 2017, we had $158.3 million of net loss and loss adjustment expense reserves, which included $103.2 million in IBNR reserves and $55.1 million in case reserves. Reinsurance receivables of $0.8 million offset gross reserves of $159.1 million at

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December 31, 2017. For a reconciliation of net loss and loss adjustment expense reserves from the beginning to the end of the most recent periods presented, see Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements.

Loss and loss adjustment expense reserve estimates were reviewed on a quarterly basis and adjusted each quarter to reflect any favorable or adverse development. Development assumptions were based upon historical accident quarters. We analyzed our reserves for each type of coverage, for loss and loss adjustment expense separately to determine our loss and loss adjustment expense reserves. To determine the best estimate, we reviewed the results of eight estimation methods, including the reported development method, the paid development method, the reported Bornhuetter-Ferguson method, the paid Bornhuetter-Ferguson method, the Generalized Cape Cod method using exposures and reported losses, the Generalized Cape Cod method using exposures and paid losses, the Generalized Cape Cod method using ultimate claims and reported losses, and the Generalized Cape Cod method using ultimate claims and paid losses, for each set of data. In each quarterly review, we develop a point estimate for each subset of our business. In determining our loss and loss adjustment expense reserves, we selected different estimation methods as appropriate for the various subsets of our business.

The methods selected varied by coverage, and considerations included the number and value of the case reserves for open claims, incurred and paid loss relativities, and suspected strengths and weaknesses for each of the procedures. Other factors considered in establishing reserves include assumptions regarding loss frequency and loss severity. We believe assumptions regarding loss frequency are historically reliable because injured parties generally report their claims in a reasonably short period of time after an accident. Loss severity is more difficult to estimate because severity is affected by changes in underlying costs, including medical costs, settlements or judgments, and regulatory changes. Reserves recorded represent our best estimate of the ultimate amounts that will be paid.

Ratings

A.M. Best has assigned our insurance companies a financial strength rating of “C++ (Marginal)”. A.M. Best assigns a “C++” rating to those companies that in A.M. Best’s opinion “have a marginal ability to meet their ongoing obligations to policyholders, but are financially vulnerable to adverse changes in underwriting and economic conditions.” Financial institutions and reinsurance companies sometimes use the A.M. Best ratings to help assess the financial strength and quality of insurance companies. The current ratings of our insurance company subsidiaries or their failure to maintain such ratings may dissuade a financial institution from conducting business with us or increase our potential interest costs. We do not believe our A.M. Best rating is a consideration for our customers when purchasing our products and services.

Regulatory Environment

Insurance Company Regulation . We and our insurance company subsidiaries are regulated by governmental agencies in the states in which we conduct business and by various federal statutes and regulations. These state regulations vary by jurisdiction but, among other matters, usually involve:

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Required Licensing. We operate under licenses issued by various state insurance authorities. Such licenses may be of perpetual duration or periodically renewable, provided w e continue to meet applicable regulatory requirements. The licenses govern, among other things, the types of insurance coverages and products that may be offered in the licensing state. Such licenses are typically issued only after an appropriate applicati on is filed and prescribed criteria are met. All of our licenses are in good standing. Currently, we hold property and casualty insurance licenses to underwrite policies in the following 26 states:

As required by our current operations, we hold managing general agency licenses in Texas and Florida. In addition, business written through other third-party insurance carriers requires our agency operations to hold agency or broker licenses in those states. To expand into a new state or offer a new line of insurance or other new product, we must apply for and obtain the appropriate licenses.

Insurance Holding Company Regulation . We operate as an insurance holding company system and are subject to regulation in the jurisdictions in which our insurance company subsidiaries conduct business. These regulations require that each insurance company in the holding company system register with the insurance department of its state of domicile and furnish information concerning the operations of companies in the holding company system which may materially affect the operations, management or financial condition of the insurers in the holding company domiciled in that state. We have three insurance company subsidiaries that are organized and domiciled under the insurance statutes of Texas, Georgia and Tennessee. The insurance laws in each of these states similarly provide that all transactions among members of a holding company system be done at arm’s length and shown to be fair and reasonable to the regulated insurer. Transactions between insurance company subsidiaries and their parents and affiliates typically must be disclosed to the state regulators, and any material or extraordinary transaction requires prior approval of the applicable state insurance regulator. A change of control of a domestic insurer or of any controlling person requires the prior approval of the state insurance regulator. In general, any person who acquires 10% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the insurer or its parent company is deemed by statute to have acquired control of the domestic insurer.

Restrictions on Paying Dividends . We may in the future rely on dividends from our insurance company subsidiaries to meet corporate cash requirements. State insurance regulatory authorities require insurance companies to maintain specified levels of statutory capital and surplus. The amount of an insurer’s capital and surplus following payment of any dividends must be reasonable in relation to the insurer’s outstanding liabilities and adequate to meet its financial needs. Prior approval from state insurance regulatory authorities is generally required in order for an insurance company to declare and pay extraordinary dividends. The payment of ordinary dividends is limited by the amount of capital and surplus available to the insurer, as determined in accordance with state statutory accounting practices and other applicable limitations. State insurance regulatory authorities that have jurisdiction over the payment of dividends by our insurance company subsidiaries may in the future adopt statutory provisions more restrictive than those currently in effect. See Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements for a discussion of the current ability of our insurance company subsidiaries to pay dividends.

Regulation of Rates and Policy Forms . Most states in which our insurance company subsidiaries operate have insurance laws that require insurance companies to file premium rate schedules and policy or coverage forms for review and approval. In many cases, such rates and policy forms must be approved prior to use. State insurance regulators have broad discretion in judging whether an insurer’s rates are adequate, not excessive and not unfairly discriminatory. Generally, property and casualty insurers are unable to implement rate increases until they show that the costs associated with providing such coverage have increased. The speed at which an insurer can change rates in response to competition or increasing costs depends, in part, on the method by which the applicable state’s rating laws are administered. There are three basic rate administration systems: (i) the insurer must file and obtain regulatory approval of the new rate before using it; (ii) the insurer may file the new rate and begin using the new rate during regulatory review; or (iii) the insurer may begin using the new rate and file it in a specified period of time for regulatory review. Under all three rating systems, the state insurance regulators have the authority to disapprove the rate subsequent to its filing. Thus, insurers who begin using new rates before the rates are approved may be required to issue premium refunds or credits to policyholders if the new rates are ultimately deemed excessive and disapproved by the applicable state insurance authorities.

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Guaranty Funds . Under state insurance guaranty fund laws, insurers doing business in a state can be assessed for certain obligations of insolvent insurance companies to policyhol ders and claimants. Maximum contributions required by law in any one year vary between 1% and 2% of annual premiums written in that state. In most states, guaranty fund assessments are recoverable either through future policy surcharges or offsets to state premium tax liabilities. To date, we have not received any material unrecoverable assessments.

Investment Regulation . Our insurance company subsidiaries are subject to state laws and regulations that require diversification of their investment portfolios and limitations on the amount of investments in certain categories. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations would cause non-conforming investments to be treated as non-admitted assets for purposes of measuring statutory surplus and, in some instances, would require divestiture. If a non-conforming asset is treated as a non-admitted asset, it would lower the affected subsidiary’s surplus and thus, its ability to write additional premiums and pay dividends.

Restrictions on Cancellation, Non-Renewal or Withdrawal . Many states have laws and regulations that limit an insurer’s ability to exit a market. For example, certain states limit an automobile insurer’s ability to cancel or not renew policies. Some states prohibit an insurer from withdrawing one or more lines of business from the state, except pursuant to a plan approved by the state insurance department. The state insurance department may disapprove a plan that may lead to market disruption. Laws and regulations that limit cancellations and non-renewals and that subject business withdrawals to prior approval requirements may restrict an insurer’s ability to exit unprofitable markets.

Privacy Regulations . In 1999, the United States Congress enacted the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which protects consumers from the unauthorized dissemination of certain nonpublic personal information. Subsequently, the majority of states have implemented additional regulations to address privacy issues. These laws and regulations apply to all financial institutions, including insurance companies, and require us to maintain appropriate procedures for managing and protecting certain nonpublic personal information of our customers and to fully disclose our privacy practices to our customers. We may also be exposed to future privacy laws and regulations, which could impose additional costs and impact our results of operations or financial condition.

Licensing of Our Employee-Agents and Adjusters. All of our employees who sell, solicit or negotiate insurance are licensed, as required, by the state in which they work, for the applicable line or lines of insurance they offer. Our employee-agents generally must renew their licenses annually and adhere to minimum annual continuing education requirements. In certain states in which we operate, our insurance claims adjusters are also required to be licensed and are subject to annual continuing education requirements.

Unfair Claims Practices . Generally, insurance companies, adjusting companies and individual claims adjusters are prohibited by state statutes from engaging in unfair claims practices which could indicate a general business practice. We set business conduct policies and conduct regular training to ensure that our employee-adjusters and other claims personnel are aware of these prohibitions, and we require them to conduct their activities in compliance with these statutes.

Financial Reporting. We are required to file quarterly and annual financial reports with states utilizing statutory accounting practices that are different from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which generally reflect our insurance company subsidiaries on a going concern basis. The statutory accounting practices used by state regulators, in keeping with the intent to assure policyholder protection, are generally based on a liquidation concept. For statutory financial information on our insurance company subsidiaries, see Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.

As a result of the 2016 reduction in ou r statutory capital and surplus, since August 31, 2016, we provide financial statements and other additional information on a monthly basis to certain insurance departments. See Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Periodic Financial and Market Conduct Examinations . The state insurance departments that have jurisdiction over our insurance company subsidiaries conduct on-site visits and examinations of the insurers’ affairs, especially as to their financial condition, ability to fulfill their obligations to policyholders, market conduct, claims practices and compliance with other laws and applicable regulations. Generally, these examinations are conducted every five years. If circumstances dictate, regulators are authorized to conduct special or target examinations of insurers, insurance agencies and insurance adjusting companies to address particular concerns or issues. The results of these examinations can give rise to regulatory orders requiring remedial, injunctive or other corrective action on the part of the company that is the subject of the examination. The Insurance Companies have been examined for financial condition through December 31, 2015 by their respective states of domicile. FAIC has been the subject of limited scope market conduct examinations by the states of Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.

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Risk-Based Capital . In order to enhance the regulation of insurer solvency, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or “NAIC,” has adopted a formula and model law to implement risk-based capital, or “RBC,” requirements designed to assess the minimum amount of statutory capital that an insurance company needs to support its overall business operations and to ensure that it has an acceptably low expectation of becoming financially impaired. RBC is used to set capital requirements based on the size and degree of risk taken by the insurer and taking into account various risk factors such as asset risk, credit risk, underwriting risk, interest rate risk and oth er relevant business risks. The NAIC model law provides for increasing levels of regulatory intervention as the ratio of an insurer’s total adjusted capital decreases relative to its RBC, culminating with mandatory control of the operations of the insurer by the domiciliary insurance department at the so-called mandatory control level. This calculation is performed on a calendar year basis, and at December 31, 2017, each of our insurance companies all maintained an RBC level that was in excess of an amount that would require any corrective actions on their part.

RBC is a comprehensive financial analysis system affecting nearly all types of licensed insurers, including our insurance company subsidiaries. It is designed to evaluate the relative financial condition of the insurer by application of a weighting formula to the company’s assets and its policyholder obligations. The key RBC calculation is to recast total surplus, after application of the RBC formula, in terms of an authorized control level RBC. The authorized control level RBC is a number determined under the RBC formula in accordance with certain RBC instructions. Once the authorized control level RBC is determined, it is contrasted against the company’s total adjusted capital. A high multiple generally indicates stronger capitalization and financial strength, while a lower multiple reflects lesser capitalization and strength. Each state’s statutes also create certain RBC multiples at which either the company or the regulator must take action. For example, there are four defined RBC levels that trigger different regulatory events. The minimum RBC level is called the company action level RBC and is generally defined as the product of 2.0 and the company’s authorized control level RBC. Next is a regulatory action level RBC, which is defined as the product of 1.5 and the company’s authorized control level RBC. Below the regulatory action level RBC is the authorized control level RBC. Finally, there is a mandatory control level RBC, which means the product of 0.70 and the company’s authorized control level RBC.

As long as the company’s total adjusted capital stays above the company action level RBC (i.e., at greater than 2.0 times the authorized control level RBC), regulators generally will not take any corrective action. However, if an insurance company’s total adjusted capital falls below the company action level RBC, but remains above the regulatory action level RBC, the company is required to submit an RBC plan to the applicable state regulator(s) that identifies the conditions that contributed to the substandard RBC level and identifies a remediation plan to increase the company’s total adjusted capital above 2.0 times its authorized control level RBC. If a company’s total adjusted capital falls below its regulatory action level RBC but remains above its authorized control level RBC, then the regulator may require the insurer to submit an RBC plan, perform a financial examination or analysis on the company’s assets and liabilities, and may issue an order specifying corrective action for the company to take to improve its RBC number. In the event an insurance company’s total adjusted capital falls below its authorized control level RBC, the state regulator may require the insurer to submit an RBC plan or may place the insurer under regulatory supervision. If an insurance company’s total adjusted capital were to fall below its mandatory control level RBC, the regulator is obligated to place the insurer under regulatory control, which could ultimately include, among other actions, administrative supervision, rehabilitation or liquidation.

At December 31, 2017, FAIC’s total adjusted capital was 3.6 times its authorized control level RBC, requiring no corrective action on FAIC’s part. Likewise, at December 31, 2017, FAIC-GA and FAIC-TN had total adjusted capital of 3.6 and 3.8, respectively, times their authorized control level RBC.

Employees

At December 31, 2017, we had approximately 1,300 employees or “team members”. Our employees are not covered by any collective bargaining agreements.

Available Information

We file reports with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other reports from time to time. The public may read and copy any materials filed with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington D.C. 20549. The public may obtain information about the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. We are an electronic filer, and the SEC maintains an internet site at www.sec.gov that contains our reports, proxy and information statements, and other information filed electronically. The SEC website address is provided as an inactive textual reference only, and the information provided on the SEC website is not part of this report and is therefore not incorporated by reference unless such information is otherwise specifically referenced elsewhere in this report.

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Website

We maintain a website at the following address: www.acceptance.com. The information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference in this report. We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with, or furnish to, the SEC in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These include our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports. We make this information available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

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