A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Mercury General Corporation and Its Operating Subsidiaries.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. the financial strength rating (FSR (Free System Resource) In Windows 3.x, the amount of unused memory in various 64K blocks reserved for managing current applications. Every open window takes some space in this area. See Windows memory limitation. ) of A+ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition or Image Character Recognition) The machine recognition of hand-printed characters as well as machine printing that is difficult to recognize. ) of "aa-" of Mercury Casualty Group (Mercury) (Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , CA) and its members. Additionally, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and ICRs of "a-" of American Mercury Insurance Group Mercury Insurance Group NYSE: MCY is an American automobile and property insurance company founded by George Joseph in 1961. The company's headquarters is in Los Angeles, CA. (AMI) (Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (1990 pop. 444,719), state capital, and seat of Oklahoma co., central Okla., on the North Canadian River; inc. 1890. The state's largest city, it is an important livestock market, a wholesale, distribution, industrial, and financial center, and a farm , OK) and its members. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICRs of "a-", senior debt rating of "a-" on existing debt securities and the indicative rating of "a-" of the senior debt under the $300 million shelf registration, of which $175 million remains of Mercury and AMI's parent, Mercury General Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : MCY MCY Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia - Maroochydore (Airport Code) MCY Machine Cycle ). The outlook for all ratings is stable. (See below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.) A.M. Best's actions follow the execution of a 100% quota share For This article is about quota shares (shares of the quota). For other usages of quota, see, see . A quota share is a specified number or percentage of the allotment as a whole (quota), that is prescribed to each individual entity (see Non-tariff barriers to trade). reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. agreement between Mercury Casualty Company (California) and three of its sister companies, Mercury Insurance Company of Illinois (Illinois), Mercury Insurance Company of Georgia and Mercury Indemnity Company of Georgia (both of Georgia), all part of the Mercury General Group. The agreement is effective as of July 1, 2008. Mercury's ratings reflect its strong risk-adjusted capital position, conservative investment risk profile and low dependence on reinsurance. Moreover, Mercury's capitalization is supported by solid surplus growth through a consistently positive operating performance. In addition, Mercury maintains a sustainable competitive advantage within its core personal auto segment that includes pricing and risk classification expertise, strong independent agency relationships and aggressive claims management practices. Mercury also benefits from the financial flexibility of Mercury General Corporation due to its modest financial leverage and access to capital markets. AMI's ratings reflect its adequate level of risk-adjusted capital, stabilizing operating performance and the demonstrated history of financial support provided by Mercury General Corporation. These positive rating factors are offset by AMI's elevated underwriting Underwriting 1. The process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and governments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt). 2. The process of issuing insurance policies. leverage due to recent significant premium growth, its relatively high expense structure and exposure to catastrophe losses in its operating region. Compounding these matters is the lack of adequate catastrophe management strategies that serve to support and protect the group's capital in the event of severe weather over the long term. The FSR of A+ (Superior) and ICRs of "aa-" have been affirmed for Mercury Casualty Group and its following members: * Mercury Casualty Company * Mercury Insurance Company * California Automobile Insurance Company * Mercury Indemnity Company of Georgia * Mercury Insurance Company of Georgia * Mercury Insurance Company of Illinois * Mercury National Insurance Company * Mercury Insurance Company of Florida * Mercury Indemnity Company of America The FSR of A- (Excellent) and ICRs of "a-" have been affirmed for American Mercury Insurance Group and its following members: * American Mercury Insurance Company * American Mercury Lloyds Insurance Company * Mercury County Mutual Insurance Company The ICR of "a-" has been affirmed for Mercury General Corporation. The following debt rating has been affirmed: Mercury General Corporation-- -- "a-" on $125 million 7.250% senior unsecured notes, due 2011 The following indicative rating on securities available under the $300 million shelf registration, of which $175 million remains, has been affirmed: Mercury General Corporation-- -- "a-" on senior unsecured debt Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. |
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