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As if no one saw it coming, Pennsylvania state insurance regulators prepare to hock Reliance Insurance Co.’s assets. With liabilities approaching $10 billion and assets close to $9 billion, mathematically there are no hopes for Reliance to recover.

On Oct. 3, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken obtained a court order to liquidate the company from Commonwealth Judge James Gardner Colins. The order protects Reliance by putting a 90-day halt on legal claims involving any of its 75,000 policyholders across the US. Originally Colins had set a Dec. 4 deadline for regulators to determine if the company could be resuscitated or shut down altogether.

The Sept. 11 tragedy reportedly had a bearing on the regulators’ decision since Reliance relied heavily on many reinsurance companies already financially extended to cover the terrorist attacks.

According to AP, Koken said, "The financial condition of the company was clearly worse than what we had thought when we took over." The 184-year-old Reliance was put under state supervision May 29. Koken also said, that the Pennsylvania Insurance Department would attempt to expedite the settlement of workers’ compensation and personal-injury claims.

It is estimated that Reliance would be losing $2 to $4 million a day if it continued to operate. Reliance’s parent company Reliance Group Holdings filed for bankruptcy protection in June after it defaulted on $500 million in bonds and bank debt that caused it to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.