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Insurance Ratings - Portal
There are few things in life as important as choosing the right kind
of insurance coverage. There are many things in life that we ensure
these days. Everything from our homes to our cars, our lives and even
the health of our pets. Everything that matters to your and your
family’s financial well being can be insured and it is a very important
point that everyone needs to go over to make the right decisions for
their own particular situation.
Choosing the right insurance company to work with does not have to be
hard to do. There are some powerful tools on the internet that can help
you to make the right choices as far as insurance companies and their
services. This company is going to be trusted with the wellbeing of your
entire family and their future. You need to know that if something were
to happen to you, your family will be taken care of financially. Your
children will be able to go to the best schools and your family will be
able to continue to live in the style that they are accustomed to.
The insurance company that you choose should have a good rating. After
all you are trusting the company with your hard earned money and if you
are going to be paying them each month every month for the next so many
years, that is going to be a lot of money. You need to feel secure that
when the time comes for a claim to be made on your insurance policy that
the money will be there to collect.
All insurance companies have a rating, this rating is the best way for
you to know if they can be trusted with your money. These ratings are
free for everyone to see but where can you go to see them for yourself?
Companies like AM Best and Standard & Poor’s specialize in rating
insurance companies. There is nothing simpler than looking up ratings on
the AM Best website. All you need to do is log onto it and then type in
the name of the insurance company that you want to find out about. You
will then get all of the important information about that company as
well as their rating. Standard & Poor’s website is just as easy to use
and there you can search not only by company but also by product or even
state. This makes this rating company the most popular and well used in
the world.
When you see that an insurance company has been rated AAA that means
they are a strong financial powerhouse. They are a good choice for you
when it comes to making your final insurance decision. Those companies
with a low rating will be rated R. Choosing the right insurance company
for all of your needs is important so start looking at the ratings today
Resources about Best's Ratings Methodologies
The following methodologies offer an explanation of Best's Rating
System and Procedures for assigning financial strength ratings. They
cover Industry/Regional specific topics in detail such as the Objective
of Best's Rating System, Best's Rating Scale, the Release and Assignment
of Best's Ratings, Definitions and more.
Other Methodologies
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Catastrophe Analysis in A.M. Best Ratings
(November 21, 2005) - A.M. Best Co. considers catastrophic
loss, both natural and man-made, to be the No. 1 threat to the
financial strength and credit quality of property and casualty
insurers due to the significant, rapid and unexpected impact that
can occur.
-
Captive Insurance Companies (November 4, 2005)
- Read how A.M. Best's analysts evaluate captive insurance
companies in a manner similar to that used with a commercial
insurance company, but with consideration given to the financial
risk of the corporate-sector parent.
- Life
Settlement Securitization (September 1, 2005)
- Read how A.M. Best Co. rates securities backed by life settlements
(i.e. insurance policies bought in the secondary market).
-
Rating Surplus Note And Insurance Trust-Preferred CDOs
(July 25, 2005) - Read how A.M. Best rates
securities backed by Surplus Notes and Insurance Trust-Preferreds
(Securitization of surplus notes and insurance trust-preferreds).
-
Analyzing Finance Companies (June 3, 2005)
- The analytical framework for assessing finance companies
highlights special issues particular to the finance industry,
according to A.M. Best Co.'s latest rating methodology, Analyzing
Finance Companies.
-
Best's Impairment Rate and Rating Transition Study - 1977 to 2004
(April 18, 2005) - A.M. Best Co. has
conducted its second study on the long-term impairment rates of A.M.
Best-rated property/casualty and life/health insurance companies
domiciled in the United States that file statutory statements.
-
Equity Credit for Hybrid Securities (April 4,
2005) - A.M. Best has released its methodology for the
treatment of equity credit for hybrid securities issued by
insurance-related entities, which highlights the importance of
debt-service capabilities.
-
Understanding BCAR for Canadian Property/Casualty Insurers
(April 4, 2005) - A.M. Best Co. has released
a rating methodology addressing the quantitative and qualitative
factors affecting ratings of Canadian property/casualty companies.
-
Analyzing Commercial Banking Operations (March
28, 2005) - Globally, increasing numbers of banks and
insurers have expanded operations into each other's industry. Based
on this growing trend, A.M. Best Co. has released a methodology for
evaluating the financial health of the banking operations of
insurance-related enterprises.
- Rating
Members of Insurance Groups (January 31, 2005)
- read how the dynamic within insurance groups and the relationships
between affiliates continues to evolve.
- Evaluating
Health-Care Systems (January 24, 2005) -
A.M. Best Co. evaluates the ability of not-for-profit U.S. hospitals
and health-care systems to support their health maintenance
organizations and captive insurance company subsidiaries.
- Bests
Idealized Default Matrix (October 18, 2004)
- provides the default table used by A.M. Best's Structured Finance
Group for rating securities in structured transactions.
- A.M. Bests
Ratings & the Treatment of Debt (October 11,
2004) - provides specific information outlining the
relationship between Best's Financial Strength Ratings and Best's
Debt Ratings.
-
Rating Funding Agreement-Backed Securities
(October 4, 2004) - Read how A.M. Best Co. approaches the
rating of securities and related programs that are backed by funding
agreements issued by U.S. life insurers.
- Rating
New Company Formations (March 8, 2004) -
read our rating methodology for new insurance and reinsurance
companies as A.M. Best strives to meet the demand for financial
information on these and other risk-assuming vehicles.
-
Understanding BCAR for Life/Health (February 9,
2004) - read what's behind Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio for
Life/Health insurers and its implication for ratings.
-
Rating Closed Block Monetizations (December 15,
2003) - find out how and why some publicly traded life
insurance companies are exploring this option.
- Understanding
BCAR for Property/Casualty (November 24, 2003)
- read what's behind Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio for
Property/Casualty insurers and its implication for ratings.
-
Rating Health Insurance Companies (October 27,
2003) - provides insight into the critera for rating health
insurance carriers.
- Country Risk
Methodology (November 18, 2002) - find
out how A.M. Best uses country risk analysis to determine how the
factors outside an insurer's control affect its ability to meet its
obligations to its policyholders.
- A.M.
Best Rating Methodology for Lloyd's Syndicates
(November 11, 2001) - provides an overview for Best's Rating
of Lloyd's and helps in understanding the unique structure of
Lloyd's.
-
Commercial Paper Methodology (August, 2001)
- read our analysis on the rating process behind short-term debt
obligations.
Difference between the Insurer Ratings Companies
Contacting The Rating Companies
A.M. Best Company
Web Site
Address: Ambest Road, Oldwick, NJ 08858
Telephone: (908) 439-2200
Standard and Poor's
Web Site
Telephone: (212) 208-1199
Moody's Investors Service
Web Site
Address: 99 Church Street, New York, NY 10007
Telephone: (800) 811-6980
Duff and Phelps Credit Rating Co.
Web Site
Address: 55 East Monroe Street, Suite 3500, Chicago, IL 60603
Telephone: (312) 368-3198
Weiss Ratings, Inc
Web Site
Address: 4176 Burns Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Telephone: (800) 289-9222
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