A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of New Zealand Local Government Insurance Corporation Limited
October 06 2015 - 12:28PM
Business Wire
A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of
B+ (Good) and the issuer credit rating of “bbb-” of New Zealand
Local Government Insurance Corporation Limited (New Zealand),
trading as Civic Assurance (Civic). The outlook for both ratings is
negative.
The ratings mainly reflect A.M. Best’s concerns over Civic’s
reinsurance recoverable risk, which remains sizable relative to the
company’s overall capitalization.
Partially offsetting these negative rating factors is Civic’s
risk-adjusted capitalization as determined by Best’s Capital
Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), which remains supportive of its ratings. The
negative outlook on the ratings mainly reflects the uncertainties
regarding the reaching of a global settlement between Civic
Assurance, Christchurch City Council and its panel of
reinsurers.
Factors that could result in negative rating actions include
operating losses, further reinsurance disputes, prolonged delay in
its reinsurance recovery process or a significant deterioration in
Civic’s risk-adjusted or absolute capitalization.
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication,
and unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended
subsequent to that communication.
This press release relates to rating(s) that have been
published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information
relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including
details of the office responsible for issuing each of the
individual ratings referenced in this release, please visit A.M.
Best’s Ratings & Criteria Center.
A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most
authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more
information, visit www.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2015 by A.M. Best Company,
Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151006006612/en/
A.M. BestLarina Huang, +65-6589-8400, ext.
218Associate Financial
Analystlarina.huang@ambest.comorJason Shum, +65-6589-8400,
ext. 217Financial
Analystjason.shum@ambest.comorChristopher Sharkey,
+(1)-908-439-2200, ext. 5159Manager, Public
Relationschristopher.sharkey@ambest.comorJim Peavy,
+(1)-908-439-2200, ext. 5644Assistant Vice President, Public
Relationsjames.peavy@ambest.com