12. Commitments and Contingencies Regulation and Compliance The Company is subject to changing social, economic and regulatory conditions. From time to time, regulatory authorities or legislative bodies seek to impose additional regulations regarding agent and broker compensation, regulate the nature of and amount of investments, and otherwise expand overall regulation of insurance products and the insurance industry. The Company has established procedures and policies to facilitate compliance with laws and regulations, to foster prudent business operations, and to support financial reporting. The Company routinely reviews its practices to validate compliance with laws and regulations and with internal procedures and policies. As a result of these reviews, from time to time the Company may decide to modify some of its procedures and policies. Such modifications, and the reviews that led to them, may be accompanied by payments being made and costs being incurred. The ultimate changes and eventual effects of these actions on the Companys business, if any, are uncertain. The Company is currently being examined by certain states for compliance with unclaimed property laws, premium tax and market conduct compliance. It is possible that these examinations may result in additional payments to states and to changes in the Companys practices and procedures, which could impact benefit payments, operating and acquisition expenses and reserves, among other consequences; however, it is not likely to have a material effect on the financial statements of the Company. The Company is assessed amounts by the state guaranty funds to cover losses to policyholders of insolvent or rehabilitated insurance companies. Those mandatory assessments may be partially recovered through a reduction in future premium taxes in certain states. At December 31, 2018, the Company accrued $3.8 million for guaranty fund assessments which is expected to be offset by estimated future premium tax deductions of $3.4 million. At December 31, 2017, the Company accrued $3.3 million for guaranty fund assessments. Litigation The Company is involved from time to time in judicial, regulatory and arbitration proceedings concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of its business. Management believes, based on currently available information, that the results of such proceedings, in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition. Given the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of the Companys litigation and regulatory matters, particularly in cases or proceedings in which substantial or indeterminate damages or fines are sought, the Company cannot estimate losses or ranges of losses for cases or proceedings where there is only a reasonable possibility that a loss may be incurred. However, the Company believes that at the present time there are no pending or threatened lawsuits that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position or results of operations. In the normal course of its business, the Company has entered into agreements that include indemnities in favor of third parties, such as contracts with advisors and consultants, outsourcing agreements, information technology agreements and service agreements. The Company has also agreed to indemnify its directors, officers and employees in accordance with the Companys by-laws. The Company believes any potential liability under these agreements is neither probable nor estimable. Therefore, the Company has not recorded any associated liability. Pledged or Restricted Assets The Company had the following restricted assets:  Certain bonds were on deposit with governmental authorities as required by law with market values of $8.4 million and $8.6 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  Derivative cash collateral received was reported as cash equivalents of $1.0 million and $0.3 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  Funds pledged on certain mortgage loans held in the investment portfolio to finance property improvements on underlying real estate totaling $4.8 million and $8.5 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  The Company is a member of the FHLB and is required to pledge collateral to back funding agreements issued to the FHLB. Assets with a market value of approximately $513.2 and $538.7 million were pledged as collateral to the FHLB as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.