A Florida appellate court blaming a "clerical error" issued, and then retracted, a ruling upholding state Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty's order suspending Allstate from writing new business in the state.

According to Jon Wheeler, the clerk of the court for the Florida First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee, the error "was that the order was released prior to the ten business days provided in the court's internal operating procedures" for hearing an "en banc" motion requiring a quorum of judges.

"The motion for rehearing en banc was filed April 14, 2008, and thus the earliest permissible release date for the decision on the en banc motion would have been the 11th business day after the filing of the motion for rehearing en banc, which would be Tuesday, April 29, 2008," Mr. Wheeler explained.