Meritplan Auto Insurance Review

Updated: Meritplan Insurance, previously owned by Balboa Ins. Group, is now owned by QBE Insurance Group Ltd.

This Meritplan Auto Insurance Review looks at Meritplan Insurance Company of Irvine, California. Meritplan, and sister company Newport Insurance Company of Phoenix, Arizona, are wholly owned subsidiaries of Balboa Insurance Group.

Balboa Insurance Group is owned by Bank of America’s BA Insurance Group, Inc. Bank of America announced the intention to sell the insurance companies to Australia-based QBE Insurance Group Limited in 2011.

Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions. The company’s shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, BAC.

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On February 3, 2011, Bank of America announced a signed agreement of the sales of Balboa Insurance Group assets to QBE Insurance Group Limited.

As a result, rating agencies such as AM Best considered the negative implications of Balboa Insurance Group’s risk-adjusted business profile.

Continue reading about Meritplan Auto Insurance to determine how the company’s auto insurance plans meet your needs for auto insurance.

Meritplan Auto Insurance Company Sale

According to financial documents filed by QBE and Bank of America, Balboa’s current liabilities of about $1.2 billion will be assumed by QBE. QBE is paying $700 million in cash to complete the transaction.

Balboa was acquired by Bank of America as part of the Countrywide Financial Corp. acquisition in 2008.

Balboa is one of the country’s biggest players in forced-placed insurance. Force-placed insurance is sometimes necessary when a homeowner with a mortgage stops making homeowner insurance payments.

Force-placed insurance protects the lender’s financial interests. Unfortunately, the owner of the property must pay for the force-placed insurance at higher rates, sometimes several times more expensive than ordinary homeowner insurance.

For that reason, force-placed insurance can increase the financial burdens of the homeowner and increase the likelihood of foreclosure by the lender. The force-placed insurance doesn’t protect the borrower.

Bank of America decided to sell approximately $19 billion of companies in their portfolio in 2010. Bank of America sold Meritplan Auto Insurance Company and Balboa Insurance because the companies’ business doesn’t align with BofA’s plans for the future.

Meritplan Auto Insurance Customer Service

Because of the transition of the Balboa Insurance Group and alleged fraud by some parties against the Balboa Insurance Group, some agents no longer offer Meritplan auto insurance coverage.

Customer service is provided for current policyholders of Meritplan auto insurance by Arrowhead General Insurance Agency (a managing general agency).

Contact Arrowhead General Insurance Agency at 701 B Street Suite 2100, San Diego, CA 92101, or call toll-free +1-800-669-1889 or +1-619-881-8600 for assistance.

Meritplan Auto Insurance Claims

Submitted auto insurance claims are handled by American Claims Management, an insurance claims specialist owned by Arrowhead General Insurance Agency.

Contact the company at 701 B Street Suite 2210, San Diego, CA 92101-8101, or call toll-free +1-888-799-2919 or +1-760-827-4800 for assistance.

Meritplan Auto Insurance Financial Information

According to Dun & Bradstreet, Meritplan generated annual sales of about $65.98 million during the fiscal year ended December 2010.

QBE, the purchasing company of Meritplan and Balboa Insurance Group, is a member of the All Australian 50 (ASX) Index and is one of the largest insurance companies in the world.

The company ranks #402 on the Financial Times of London’s FT Global 500.

The company reported sales of about $11.63 billion during the 2009 fiscal year. The company’s sales growth was approximately 35.78 percent (2009 vs. 2008).

The recorded net income for the 2009 fiscal year was approximately $1.77 billion. The company reported one-year net income growth of about 37.53 percent. QBE reports total assets of about $36.58 billion and a market value of about $17.94 billion.

QBE does about three-fourths of its business outside of Australia, and maintains operations in 50 countries.

The primary business lines of QBE include property and casualty including auto, homeowner, aviation, and energy, professional indemnity, and general liability policies. QBE offers primary insurance and reinsurance services to other insurers.

QBE utilizes a national and international network of independent insurance agents and brokers to distribute the company’s products and services. The company employs some proprietary sales agents in Australia.

QBE may decide to re-brand Meritplan Auto Insurance Company and Balboa Insurance Group upon final disposition of the companies’ assets and liabilities.

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