Golden State Mutual Faces Conservation Order

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says he is in the process of putting a life insurer under the supervision of the Commissioner’s Conservation and Liquidation Office.

Poizner has served an order of conservation on Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Los Angeles, a life insurer organized in 1925 that has been operating in 12 states.

Golden State Mutual has repeatedly reported operating losses, and the California Department of Insurance has warned the company that “continued to sell assets to cover losses was hazardous to its policyholders and would eventually lead to conservation,” Poizner says in a statement. “Unfortunately, that day has now come.”

Golden State Mutual has told the California department that it “will not oppose the conservation,” Poizner says.

The conservation office will oversee the payment of claims and the receipt of premiums while developing a wind-down plan to protect the policy holders, Poizner says.