AM Best News

AM Best Gives A- Rating to At-Bay Specialty; Fischel Hired as At-Bay CFO

At-Bay said insurance industry rating agency AM Best has assigned At-Bay Specialty Insurance Company a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent). At-Bay Specialty Insurance Company is a Delaware-domiciled excess and surplus (E&S) lines property and casualty (P&C) carrier, acquired by …

Catastrophe Losses Drive 2021 U.S. P/C Insurer Impairments: AM Best

Seventeen U.S. property/casualty insurance companies became impaired in 2021, with seven of the impairments driven by catastrophe losses from hurricanes, primarily in Louisiana and Florida, according to an AM Best report. In addition to the five Louisiana-domiciled companies and two …

AM Best Places Ratings of R&Q and Subsidiaries Under Review with Neg. Implications

AM Best has placed under review with negative implications the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” (Excellent) of R&Q Insurance Holdings’ three wholly owned program management subsidiaries: Accredited Surety and Casualty Co. …

U.S. Personal Auto Results Headed the Wrong Way. Is a U-Turn Possible?

Although the pandemic may appear more distant in the rearview mirror, its lasting impact on the personal auto insurance industry may be larger than initially expected. Private passenger automobile insurance is the largest segment of the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry, …

Ignited by Pandemic Changes, Insurers Embraced Innovation

The pandemic kickstarted the new wave of accepting and using innovative systems and methods in the insurance industry. It opened eyes to the ways that innovations and technology could do more than just efficiently get the work done. While the …

AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Virginia’s Northern Neck Insurance

AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of Northern Neck Insurance Co. of Irvington, Virginia. AM Best said the …

U.S. P/C Industry Records $26.5 Billion Underwriting Loss in 2022

The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry recorded a $26.5 billion net underwriting loss in 2022, $21.5 billion more than the $5 billion underwriting loss reported in 2021, according to a report published by AM Best. The underwriting loss came despite an …

Cannasure Quickly Moving New and Renewal Business from Topa in California

It appears one of the nation’s better known cannabis insurance specialists is having to do some scrambling after AM Best announced it was downgrading the credit ratings of Topa Insurance Co. in Calabasas, California, and its subsidiary, Dorchester Insurance Company …

AM Best Downgrades Credit Ratings of Topa in California

AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings to “bbb+ (Good) from “a-” (Excellent) of Topa Insurance Co. in Calabasas, California, and its subsidiary, Dorchester Insurance Company Ltd. …

Government’s SVB Intervention Saved Insurers From Significant D&O Claims

Had the federal government not stepped in to make Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) depositors whole, providers of directors and officers insurance for startups and venture capitalists – as well as financial institutions supporting these entities – would have been staring …