corresp
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FIRM and AFFILIATE OFFICES |
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Duane Morris
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NEW YORK |
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LAKE TAHOE |
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HO CHI MINH CITY |
FREDERICK W. DREHER
DIRECT DIAL: 215.979.1234
PERSONAL FAX: 215.979.1213
E-MAIL: fwdreher@duanemorris.com
October 2, 2007
VIA EDGAR
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attention: Jim B. Rosenberg
Senior Assistant Chief Accountant
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Re:
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Donegal Group Inc.
Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
File No. 0-15341
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Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of Donegal Group Inc. (DGI), we are responding to the additional comment provided
in response to DGIs letter dated September 5, 2007, as set forth in your September 18,
2007 telephone conversation with John Kauffman of our office. We have included the text of your
comment in italics followed by DGIs response to the comment.
Refer to your response to our prior Comment No. 1. We believe that your change in estimate is
material to net income. The current disclosure is vague as to the specific reasons why the loss
development trends experienced improvement during the years referenced. Please elaborate on that
fact and provide quantitative factors supporting this determination and include proposed revisions
to your disclosure clarifying the reasons. In your response, confirm that the revised disclosure
will be included in your next periodic report.
DGI attributes the improvement in the loss development trends of its insurance subsidiaries
during the years referenced to favorable settlements of previously reported claims, which were
largely achieved through a shortening of claim life cycles and more timely settlement of claims.
These improvements were made possible by advances in
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Duane Morris llp |
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30 South 17th Street PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103-4196
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PHONE: 215.979.1000 FAX: 215.979.1020 |
Securities and Exchange Commission
Page 2
October 2, 2007
automation and the addition of personnel to the claim servicing functions of DGIs insurance
subsidiaries.
Revised paragraphs incorporating additional disclosures regarding the change in estimates and
loss development trends are as follows:
Our insurance subsidiaries recognized a decrease in their liability for losses and loss
expenses of prior years of $13.6 million, $9.4 million and $7.2 million in 2006, 2005 and 2004,
respectively. Generally, our insurance subsidiaries experienced improving loss development trends
in 2006, 2005 and 2004, which were attributable to favorable settlements of previously-reported
claims. Our insurance subsidiaries have implemented advances in automation and added personnel in
the past three years to enhance their claims servicing ability. These enhancements have resulted
in shorter claim life cycles and more timely settlement of claims, thereby contributing to the
improving loss development trends experienced in these periods. Our insurance subsidiaries have
not made any significant changes in their reserving philosophy, key reserving assumptions or claims
management, and there have been no significant offsetting changes in estimates that increased or
decreased their loss and loss expense reserves in these periods.
The 2006 development represented 7.9% of the December 31, 2005 carried reserves and was driven
primarily by favorable settlements of previously-reported claims that contributed to
lower-than-expected severity in accident years 2002 through 2005. Our insurance subsidiaries
recognized favorable development primarily in the private passenger automobile liability, workers
compensation and commercial multi-peril lines of business, with the latest three prior accident
years contributing approximately 64% and the latest five prior accident years contributing over 95%
of the total favorable development. The majority of the 2006 development was related to decreases
in the liability for losses and loss expenses of prior years for Atlantic States.
As a matter of achieving higher-quality disclosure to investors, DGI intends to include
disclosure similar to the above paragraphs in its future annual filings commencing with its Form
10-K Report for the year ending December 31, 2007.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Page 3
October 2, 2007
DGI would be happy to discuss your comment with you further or meet with you in order to
address any further questions or concerns.
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Sincerely,
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/s/ Frederick W. Dreher
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Frederick W. Dreher |
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FWD:am
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cc: |
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DGI
KPMG LLP, Sean X. Stacy, Partner |