Florida Judge Approves Liquidation of First Warranty

A Circuit Court judge in Florida's Leon County has ordered the warranty company, Intercontinental Marine Service Corp., which does business as First Warranty Group of Florida, into liquidation.

The company, with approximately 10,000 in-force policies in Florida and other states, was originally placed in receivership in July 2009, with the Department of Financial Services as the receiver.

The liquidation order, issued late Friday, December 18, by Judge John C. Cooper, cancelled the remaining motor vehicle service warranty agreements written by IMSC as of 11:59 p.m., December 18, 2009.

The company previously issued motor vehicle service agreements in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Oklahoma. IMSC was licensed in Florida in 2003, and surrendered its Florida insurance license in October 2007.

The Department of Financial Services said it will send a notice of the liquidation proceeding to the known IMSC warranty policyholders, and to automobile dealers that sold the warranties.

There is no guaranty association in Florida for warranty companies. IMSC policyholders will need to file a claim for any unearned premium and other claims they may have under the warranty contracts as part of the IMSC receivership proceeding. Officials said that instructions for filing claims in the receivership proceeding will be provided to the policyholders at a later date.