UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

QUARTERLY REPORT PERSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2012

Commission file number 0-24000

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes  X   No       

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes  X   No       

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes  X   No       

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company.  See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes        No   X 

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Class A Common Stock as of the latest practicable date, with no par value and a stated value of $0.0292 per share, was 47,218,017 at July 19, 2012.

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Class B Common Stock as of the latest practicable date, with no par value and a stated value of $70 per share, was 2,544 at July 19, 2012.

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PART I.  FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ERIE INDEMNITY COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

(dollars in millions, except per share data)

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.  See Note 14. “Indemnity Supplemental Information,” for supplemental statements of operations information.

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ERIE INDEMNITY COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED)

(in millions)

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

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ERIE INDEMNITY COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

(dollars in millions, except per share data)

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.  See Note 14. “Indemnity Supplemental Information,” for supplemental consolidating statements of financial position information.

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ERIE INDEMNITY COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)

(in millions)

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 14. “Indemnity Supplemental Information,” for supplemental cash flow information.

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NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

Note 1.  Nature of Operations

Erie Indemnity Company (“Indemnity”) is a publicly held Pennsylvania business corporation that has been the managing attorney-in-fact for the subscribers (policyholders) at the Erie Insurance Exchange (“Exchange”) since 1925.  The Exchange is a subscriber-owned, Pennsylvania-domiciled reciprocal insurer that writes property and casualty insurance.

Indemnity’s primary function is to perform certain services for the Exchange relating to the sales, underwriting and issuance of policies on behalf of the Exchange.  This is done in accordance with a subscriber’s agreement (a limited power of attorney) executed by each subscriber (policyholder), which appoints Indemnity as their common attorney-in-fact to transact business on their behalf and to manage the affairs of the Exchange.  Pursuant to the subscriber’s agreement and for its services as attorney-in-fact, Indemnity earns a management fee calculated as a percentage of the direct premiums written by the Exchange and the other members of the Property and Casualty Group (defined below), which are assumed by the Exchange under an intercompany pooling arrangement.

Indemnity has the power to direct the activities of the Exchange that most significantly impact the Exchange’s economic performance by acting as the common attorney-in-fact and decision maker for the subscribers (policyholders) at the Exchange.

The Exchange, together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, Erie Insurance Company (“EIC”), Erie Insurance Company of New York (“ENY”), Erie Insurance Property and Casualty Company (“EPC”), and Flagship City Insurance Company (“Flagship”), operate as a property and casualty insurer and are collectively referred to as the “Property and Casualty Group”.  The Property and Casualty Group operates in 11 Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states and the District of Columbia.

Erie Family Life Insurance Company (“EFL”) is an affiliated life insurance company that underwrites and sells individual and group life insurance policies and fixed annuities.  On March 31, 2011, Indemnity sold its 21.6% ownership interest in EFL to the Exchange.

All property and casualty and life insurance operations are owned by the Exchange, and Indemnity functions solely as the management company.

The consolidated financial statements of Erie Indemnity Company reflect the results of Indemnity and its variable interest entity, the Exchange, which we refer to collectively as the “Erie Insurance Group” (“we,” “us,” “our”).

“Indemnity shareholder interest” refers to the interest in Erie Indemnity Company owned by the Class A and Class B shareholders.  “Noncontrolling interest” refers to the interest in the Erie Insurance Exchange held for the subscribers (policyholders).

Note 2.  Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of Indemnity together with its affiliate companies in which Indemnity holds a majority voting or economic interest.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.  Actual results could differ from those estimates.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods have been included.  Operating results for the six month period ended June 30, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2012.  The accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2012.

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Principles of consolidation

We consolidate the Exchange as a variable interest entity for which Indemnity is the primary beneficiary.  All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.  The required presentation of noncontrolling interests is reflected in the consolidated financial statements.  Noncontrolling interests represent the ownership interests of the Exchange, all of which is held by parties other than Indemnity (i.e. the Exchange’s subscribers (policyholders)).  Noncontrolling interests also include the Exchange subscribers’ ownership interest in EFL.

Presentation of assets and liabilities – While the assets of the Exchange are presented separately in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position, the Exchange’s assets can only be used to satisfy the Exchange’s liabilities or for other unrestricted activities.  Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation, does not require separate presentation of the Exchange’s assets; however, because the shareholders of Indemnity have no rights to the assets of the Exchange and, conversely, the Exchange has no rights to the assets of Indemnity, we have presented the invested assets of the Exchange separately on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position along with the remaining consolidated assets reflecting the Exchange’s portion parenthetically.  Liabilities are required under ASC 810, Consolidation, to be presented separately for the Exchange on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as the Exchange’s creditors do not have recourse to the general credit of Indemnity.

Rights of shareholders of Indemnity and subscribers (policyholders) of the Exchange – The shareholders of Indemnity, through the management fee, have a controlling financial interest in the Exchange; however, they have no other rights to or obligations arising from assets and liabilities of the Exchange.  The shareholders of Indemnity own its equity but have no rights or interest in the Exchange’s (noncontrolling interest) income or equity.  The noncontrolling interest equity represents the Exchange’s equity held for the interest of its subscribers (policyholders), who have no rights or interest in the Indemnity shareholder interest income or equity.

All intercompany assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses between Indemnity and the Exchange have been eliminated in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Adopted accounting pronouncements

In October 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2010-26, Accounting for Costs Associated with Acquiring or Renewing Insurance Contracts.  This guidance modifies the definition of the types of costs incurred by insurance entities that can be capitalized in the acquisition of new and renewal insurance contracts.  The amendments in this guidance specify that the costs are limited to incremental direct costs that result directly from successful contract transactions and would not have been incurred by the insurance entity had the contract transactions not occurred.  These costs must be directly related to underwriting, policy issuance and processing, medical and inspection reports and sales force contract selling.  The amendments also specify that advertising costs are only included as deferred acquisition costs if the direct-response advertising criteria are met.  ASU 2010-26 is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  We have elected to prospectively adopt this guidance.  The change does not affect the Indemnity shareholder interest nor does it affect Indemnity earnings per share.  Acquisition costs capitalized during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 totaled $192 million and $364 million, respectively.  Acquisition costs that would have been capitalized during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 using the previous method of capitalization totaled $197 million and $374 million, respectively.  Included in this note below is our updated accounting policy under the caption “Deferred acquisition costs”.

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, Fair Value Measurements.  This guidance changes the description of the requirements in GAAP for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements and certain other changes to converge with the fair value guidance of the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).  The amendments in this guidance detail the requirements specific to measuring the fair value of an instrument classified in a reporting entity’s shareholders’ equity.  The amendments also clarify that a reporting entity should disclose quantitative information about the significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.  ASU 2011-04 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. The additional disclosures required by this guidance have been included in Note 6. “Fair Value”.

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In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, Comprehensive Income.  This guidance eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in shareholders’ equity.  The amendments in this guidance specify that an entity has the option to present the total comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements.  The disclosures required remain the same.  In both options, an entity is required to present each component of net income along with total net income, each component of other comprehensive income along with a total for other comprehensive income, and a total amount for comprehensive income.  ASU 2011-05 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-12, Comprehensive Income – Deferral of The Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassification of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update 2011-05.  The amendments in this ASU supersede changes to paragraphs in ASU 2011-05 that pertain to how, when and where reclassification adjustments are presented.  We have elected to present total comprehensive income in two separate but consecutive statements.  The disclosures required by this guidance have been included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Deferred acquisition costs

Acquisition costs that vary with and relate to the successful production of insurance and investment-type contracts are deferred.  Beginning in 2012, deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) are incremental direct costs of contract acquisition and are limited to the successful acquisition of new and renewal contracts.  Such costs consist principally of commissions, premium taxes and policy issuance expenses.

Property and casualty insurance – DAC related to property and casualty insurance contracts are primarily composed of commissions, premium taxes and certain underwriting expenses. These costs are amortized on a pro rata basis over the applicable policy term.  We consider investment income in determining if a premium deficiency exists, and if so, it would first be recognized by charging any unamortized acquisition costs to expense to the extent required to eliminate the deficiency.  If the premium deficiency would be greater than unamortized acquisition costs, a liability would be accrued for the excess deficiency.

There was no reduction in costs deferred in any periods presented.  Profitability is analyzed annually to ensure recoverability.

Life insurance – DAC related to traditional life insurance products is amortized in proportion to premium revenues over the premium-paying period of related policies using assumptions about mortality, morbidity, lapse rates, expenses and future yield on related investments established when the policy was issued.  Amortization is adjusted each period to reflect policy lapse or termination rates as compared to anticipated experience.  DAC related to universal life products and deferred annuities is amortized over the estimated lives of the contracts in proportion to actual and expected future gross profits, investment, mortality, expense margins and surrender charges.  Both historical and anticipated investment returns, including realized gains and losses, are considered in determining the amortization of DAC.

Estimated gross profits are adjusted monthly to reflect actual experience to date and/or for the unlocking of underlying key assumptions based upon experience studies.  DAC is periodically reviewed for recoverability.  For traditional life products, if the benefit reserves plus anticipated future premiums and interest earnings for a line of business are less than the current estimate of future benefits and expenses (including any unamortized DAC), a charge to income is recorded for additional DAC amortization or for increased benefit reserves.  For universal life and deferred annuities, if the current present value of future expected gross profits is less than the unamortized DAC, a charge to income is recorded for additional DAC amortization.

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Note 3.  Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per share are calculated under the two-class method, which allocates earnings to each class of stock based on its dividend rights.  Class B shares are convertible into Class A shares at a conversion ratio of 2,400 to 1.  Class A diluted earnings per share are calculated under the if-converted method, which reflects the conversion of Class B shares and the effect of potentially dilutive outstanding employee stock-based awards and awards vested and not yet vested related to the outside directors’ stock compensation plan.  In the first quarter of 2012, two shares of Class B common stock were converted into 4,800 shares of Class A common stock.  See Note 15. “Indemnity Capital Stock”.

A reconciliation of the numerators and denominators used in the basic and diluted per-share computations is presented as follows for each class of Indemnity common stock:

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Note 4.  Variable Interest Entity

Erie Insurance Exchange

The Exchange is a reciprocal insurance exchange domiciled in Pennsylvania, for which Indemnity serves as attorney-in-fact.  Indemnity holds a variable interest in the Exchange due to the absence of decision-making capabilities by the equity owners (subscribers/policyholders) of the Exchange and due to the significance of the management fee the Exchange pays to Indemnity as its decision maker.  As a result, Indemnity is deemed to have a controlling financial interest in the Exchange and is considered to be its primary beneficiary.

Consolidation of the Exchange’s financial results is required given the significance of the management fee to the Exchange and because Indemnity has the power to direct the activities of the Exchange that most significantly impact the Exchange’s economic performance.  The Exchange’s anticipated economic performance is the product of its underwriting results combined with its investment results.  The fees paid to Indemnity under the subscriber’s agreement impact the anticipated economic performance attributable to the Exchange’s results.  Indemnity earns a management fee from the Exchange for the services it provides as attorney-in-fact.  Indemnity’s management fee revenues are based on all premiums written or assumed by the Exchange.  Indemnity’s Board of Directors determines the management fee rate to be paid by the Exchange to Indemnity.  This rate cannot exceed 25% of the direct and affiliated assumed written premiums of the Exchange, as defined by the subscriber’s agreement signed by each policyholder.  Management fee revenues and management fee expenses are eliminated upon consolidation.

The shareholders of Indemnity have no rights to the assets of the Exchange and no obligations arising from the liabilities of the Exchange.  Indemnity has no obligation related to any underwriting and/or investment losses experienced by the Exchange.  Indemnity would, however, be adversely impacted if the Exchange incurred significant underwriting and/or investment losses.  If the surplus of the Exchange were to decline significantly from its current level, its financial strength ratings could be reduced and, as a consequence, the Exchange could find it more difficult to retain its existing business and attract new business.  A decline in the business of the Exchange would have an adverse effect on the amount of the management fees Indemnity receives.  In addition, a decline in the surplus of the Exchange from its current level may impact the management fee rate received by Indemnity.  Indemnity also has an exposure to a concentration of credit risk related to the unsecured receivables due from the Exchange for its management fee. If any of these events occurred, Indemnity’s financial position, financial performance and/or cash flows could be adversely impacted.

On March 31, 2011, Indemnity sold its 21.6% ownership interest in EFL to the Exchange.  All property and casualty and life insurance operations are owned by the Exchange, and Indemnity functions solely as the management company.

Indemnity has not provided financial or other support to the Exchange for the reporting periods presented.  At June 30, 2012, there are no explicit or implicit arrangements that would require Indemnity to provide future financial support to the Exchange.  Indemnity is not liable if the Exchange was to be in violation of its debt covenants or was unable to meet its obligation for unfunded commitments to limited partnerships.

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Note 5. Segment Information

Our reportable segments include management operations, property and casualty insurance operations, life insurance operations and investment operations.  Accounting policies for segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies.  See Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 2. Significant Accounting Policies,” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2012.  Assets are not allocated to the segments but rather are reviewed in total for purposes of decision-making.  No single customer or agent provides 10% or more of revenues.

Management operations

Our management operations segment consists of Indemnity serving as attorney-in-fact for the Exchange.  Indemnity operates in this capacity solely for the Exchange.  We evaluate profitability of our management operations segment principally on the gross margin from management operations.  Indemnity earns a management fee from the Exchange for providing sales, underwriting and policy issuance services.  Management fee revenue, which is eliminated in consolidation, is calculated as a percentage not to exceed 25% of all the direct premiums written by the Exchange and the other members of the Property and Casualty Group, which are assumed by the Exchange under an intercompany pooling arrangement.  The Property and Casualty Group issues policies with annual terms only.  Management fees are recorded upon policy issuance or renewal, as substantially all of the services required to be performed by Indemnity have been satisfied at that time.  Certain activities are performed and related costs are incurred by us subsequent to policy issuance in connection with the services provided to the Exchange; however, these activities are inconsequential and perfunctory.  Although these management fee revenues and expenses are eliminated upon consolidation, the amount of the fee directly impacts the allocation of our consolidated net income between the noncontrolling interest, which bears the management fee expense and represents the interests of the Exchange subscribers (policyholders), and Indemnity’s interest, which earns the management fee revenue and represents the Indemnity shareholder interest in net income.

Additionally, the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2012 included an adjustment that reduced commission expense by $6 million.  This amount represents the reimbursement by the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility (NCRF) for commissions Indemnity paid to agents on the surcharges collected on behalf of the NCRF in prior periods.  This amount was incorrectly recorded as a benefit to the Exchange in prior periods.  If these amounts had been correctly recorded, Indemnity’s commission expense would have been lower by $0.5 million and $0.7 million, for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Property and casualty insurance operations

Our property and casualty insurance operations segment includes personal and commercial lines.  Personal lines consist primarily of personal auto and homeowners and are marketed to individuals.  Commercial lines consist primarily of commercial multi-peril, commercial auto and workers compensation and are marketed to small- and medium-sized businesses.  Our property and casualty policies are sold by independent agents.  Our property and casualty insurance underwriting operations are conducted through the Exchange and its subsidiaries and include assumed voluntary reinsurance from nonaffiliated domestic and foreign sources, assumed involuntary and ceded reinsurance business.  The Exchange exited the assumed voluntary reinsurance business effective December 31, 2003, and therefore unaffiliated reinsurance includes only run-off activity of the previously assumed voluntary reinsurance business.  We evaluate profitability of the property and casualty insurance operations principally based upon net underwriting results represented by the combined ratio.

Life insurance operations

Our life insurance operations segment includes traditional and universal life insurance products and fixed annuities marketed to individuals using the same independent agency force utilized by our property and casualty insurance operations.  We evaluate profitability of the life insurance segment principally based upon segment net income, including investments, which for segment purposes are reflected in the investment operations segment.  At the same time, we recognize that investment-related income is integral to the evaluation of the life insurance segment because of the long duration of life products.  For the second quarters of 2012 and 2011, investment activities on life insurance related assets generated revenues of $28 million and $27 million, respectively, resulting in EFL reporting income before income taxes of $13 million and $12 million, respectively, before intercompany eliminations.  For the six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, investment activities on life insurance related assets generated revenues of $52 million and $54 million, respectively, resulting in EFL reporting income before taxes of $22 million and $25 million, respectively, before intercompany eliminations.

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Investment operations

The investment operations segment performance is evaluated based upon appreciation of assets, rate of return and overall return.  Investment related income for the life operations is included in the investment segment results.

The following tables summarize the components of the Consolidated Statements of Operations by reportable business segment: