SEC Company Response from KINGSTONE COMPANIES, INC. (KINS) (CIK 0000033992) (KINS) — Sep 19, 2005
KINGSTONE COMPANIES, INC. (KINS) (CIK 0000033992)
Date: Sept. 19, 2005 · CIK: 0000033992 · Accession: 0001021771-05-000273
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-01665
Referenced dates: August 25, 2005
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CORRESP
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Correspondence - DCAP Response Letter re: SEC Comments - Form 10-KSB for Fiscal Year 12/31/2004
1158
Broadway
Hewlett,
New York 11557
Phone:
516-374-7600
Fax:
516-295-7216
September 19, 2005
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20549
Re: DCAP Group, Inc.
Form 10-KSB for fiscal year ended December 31, 2004
Filed March 31, 2005
File No. 000-01665
Gentlemen:
This is in response to the
Staff's comment letter dated August 25, 2005 with regard to the above referenced
filing.
Comment
No.
Response
1.
The
following is a revised discussion of the “Allowance for finance receivable
losses” paragraph:
“Customers
who purchase insurance policies are often unable to pay the premium in a
lump sum and, therefore, require extended payment terms. Premium
finance involves making a loan to the customer that is backed by the
unearned portion of the insurance premiums being financed. No credit
checks are made prior to the decision to extend credit to a
customer. Losses on finance receivables include an estimate of
future credit losses on premium finance accounts. Credit losses on premium
finance accounts occur when the unearned premiums received from the
insurer upon cancellation of a financed policy are inadequate to pay the
balance of the premium finance account. After collection attempts are
exhausted, the remaining account balance, including unrealized interest,
is written off. We review historical trends of such losses relative
to finance receivable balances to develop estimates of future losses.
However, actual write-offs may differ materially from the write-off
estimates that we used. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004,
the allowance for finance receivable losses was approximately $2,966,000
and actual write-offs for such year, net of recoveries of previous
write-offs, were approximately $3,148,000.”
Securities and Exchange Commission
September 19, 2005
Page 2
2.
The
following is a revised discussion of our “Liquidity and Capital Resources”
section as of December 31, 2004:
“As
of December 31, 2004, we had $515,899 in cash and cash equivalents and
working capital of $5,678,700. As of December 31, 2003, we had $1,349,304
in cash and cash equivalents and working capital of
$5,168,694.
Cash
and cash equivalents decreased by $833,405 between December 31, 2003 and
December 31, 2004 primarily due to the following:
Net
cash used in operating activities during the year ended December 31,
2004 was $721,504 primarily due an increase in accounts receivable of
$1,122,268 and a decrease in premiums payable of $2,090,840. The
increase in accounts receivable is attributable to our acquisition of
the AIA (Atlantic Insurance Agency) stores in May 2004 and an increase
in contingent fees receivable. Premiums payable represents the
amount of insurance premiums due to insurance carriers on policies for
which we provide premium financing. Upon the customer entering
into a premium financing agreement with us, the customer makes a down
payment to the insurance carrier generally equal to 15% of the estimated
premium. We agree to lend to the customer the remaining 85% of the
estimated premium. We make a payment of 10% of the estimated
premium to the carrier at the time of the application for insurance.
The remaining balance of 75% of the estimated premium is our
premium payable. Prior to October 2004, we remitted the balance of
the unpaid premium upon receipt of the first periodic loan payment due
from the customer. In order to better manage our credit risk,
effective October 2004, we strengthened our controls and began to remit
the balance of the premium to the carrier only after receipt of the
first periodic loan payment from the customer and confirmation from the
carrier of the actual premium amount. If the actual premium is
greater than the amount previously estimated by the carrier, we require
that the customer remit the difference to the carrier or amend the
financing agreement for the revised amount prior to paying the remaining
amount due the carrier. Premiums payable fluctuate from period to period
depending upon the volume of premium financing contracts entered into.
At December 31, 2003, amounts released for payment to insurers but
not cleared by our bank were classified as premiums payable. No
such reclassification was made at December 31, 2004, resulting in a
decrease in premiums payable at year end. The cash used in
operating activities was offset by net income for the year of $1,374,364
with a related increase in taxes payable of $510,053 and an increase in
accounts payable and accrued expenses of
Securities
and Exchange Commission
September
19, 2005
Page
3
$380,629.
The increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses of $380,629 related
to the addition of the AIA stores mentioned above.
Though
fluctuations
in our premium finance business impact our cash position and daily
operations, our cash flows from operating activities do not reflect
changes in the premium finance contract receivables or borrowing under
our revolving credit facility associated with that business. Changes in
the premium finance contract receivables are considered investing
activities as they include the making and collection of loans and
borrowings under our revolving line of credit are considered financing
activities.
We
used $2,508,149 in investing activities during the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2004 primarily due to an increase in our net finance
contracts receivable of $2,347,873. Effective November 2003, we began
providing premium finance services to our Barry Scott locations
(following the expiration of a requirement that the locations use
another provider), and in March 2004 we began providing premium finance
services to our AIA offices.
Net
cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31,
2004 was $2,396,248 primarily due to proceeds of $66,178,841 from our
revolving loan from Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. to fund our
growing premium finance business and proceeds from the exercise of stock
options and warrants of $445,676, offset by payments of $63,551,264 on
the revolving loan.
Our
premium finance operations are financed pursuant to a $25,000,000
revolving line of credit from Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. Subject
to certain conditions, M&T has agreed to arrange an additional
$10,000,000 credit facility with other lenders on a “best efforts” basis.
The line of credit bears interest at either (i) M&T’s prime rate or
(ii) LIBOR plus 2.5%, matures on June 30, 2007 and is secured by
substantially all of our assets. We can borrow against the line to the
extent of 85% of eligible premium finance receivables. As of December 31,
2004, $11,595,659 was outstanding under the loan. See
“Business-Development-Developments During 2004” in Item 1 of this Annual
Report for a description of the changes made in December 2004 from our
initial line of credit with M&T to that described
above.
We
have no current commitments for capital expenditures. However, we may,
from time to time, consider acquisitions of complementary businesses,
products or technologies.
Securities
and Exchange Commission
September
19, 2005
Page
4
In
connection with our initial acquisition of the line of credit from
M&T, we obtained a $3,500,000 secured subordinated loan to support our
premium finance operations. In January 2005, we utilized the M&T line
of credit to repay $1,000,000 of the subordinated debt. Effective April
30, 2005, we are permitted, under certain circumstances, to utilize the
line of credit to repay an additional $1,000,000 of the subordinated debt.
The remaining balance of the loan is repayable in January 2006 and carries
interest at the rate of 12-5/8% per annum. See “Factors That May Affect
Future Results and Financial Condition” in this Item 6 with regard to the
need to extend the maturity date of our subordinated debt pursuant to the
requirements of our premium finance line of credit.”
3.
The
following is a revised discussion of our commission recognition
policy:
“We
recognize commission revenue from insurance policies at the
beginning of the contract period, except for commissions that are
receivable annually on a contingent basis, for which we recognize the
commission revenue ratably based upon estimates of the contingent revenue
to be received. Refunds of commissions on the cancellation of
insurance policies are reflected at the time of cancellation. During
the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, approximately $1,355,000 and
$630,000, respectively, were recognized as contingent commission
revenue.”
4.
The
following is additional disclosure in accordance with Paragraph 20 of SFAS
45:
“Franchisees
pay a monthly franchise fee plus an applicable percentage of co-op
advertising expense. We are obligated to provide marketing and
training support to each franchisee.”
With
regard to Paragraph 21 of SFAS 45, the Staff is advised that our policy
for estimating the collectibility of franchise fees is described in the
“Allowance for doubtful accounts” footnote. The “Commission and fee
income” footnote describes our revenue recognition policy with regard to
franchise fees. There was only one sale of a franchise in each of the
years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003. The selling price for each
franchise was a one-time payment of $25,000. There were no deferred
payments due from franchisees in connection with these sales.
With
regard to Paragraph 22 of SFAS 45, the Staff is advised that the majority
of the franchise fee revenue was in the form of monthly franchise fees, as
described above. We sold one franchise in each of the years ended December
31, 2004 and 2003.
Securities
and Exchange Commission
September
19, 2005
Page
5
The
Staff is advised that Paragraph 23 of SFAS 45 was not applicable to our
franchise business in 2004 as we had only one franchisor-owned store and
we did not experience a significant change in the number of franchised
stores.
5.
The
following is additional disclosure under our “Finance income, fees and
receivables” footnote:
“Upon
the establishment of a premium finance contract, we record the gross loan
payments as a receivable with a corresponding reduction for deferred
interest. The deferred interest is amortized to interest income using the
interest method over the life of each loan. The weighted
average interest rate charged with respect to financed insurance policies
was approximately 26.8% per annum for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2004.”
6.
The
Staff is advised that, as of December 31, 2004, of the $23,283,106
reflected on our balance sheet as “Finance contracts receivable”,
approximately $16,850,000 represented eligible receivables for purposes of
our premium finance credit agreement.
The
Company acknowledges that:
the
Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in
its filings;
staff
comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filing; and
the
Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding
initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States.
Very
truly yours,
DCAP
GROUP, INC.
By: /s/ Barry
Goldstein
Barry
Goldstein
Chief
Executive Officer and
President