JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The state insurance department says the Missouri Farm Bureau will take over the operation of three small insurance companies that became insolvent after paying claims from the deadly Joplin tornado.
The three insolvent companies are Barton Mutual Insurance Co., Gateway Mutual Insurance Co. and Cape Mutual Insurance Co. They had about 41,000 homeowner and fire policies.
The insurance department says the companies had combined premium sales of $29 million in 2010 but reported claims of $48 million from the tornado that struck Joplin on May 22.
Earlier this month, a judge ordered the companies into receivership under the management of the state insurance department. The agency says a Barton County judge now has approved a plan allowing the three companies to merge into one firm managed by the Farm Bureau.