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CURRENT GUIDE TO BEST'S RATINGS.


For a complete explanation of Best's Ratings Best's rating

A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders.
, please refer to the Preface pref·ace  
n.
1.
a. A preliminary statement or essay introducing a book that explains its scope, intention, or background and is usually written by the author.

b. An introductory section, as of a speech.

2.
 of Best's insurance Reports (r), Best's Key Rating Guide (r) or Best's Key Rating and Statistical Guide. Best's Ratings reflect our independent opinion, but are not a warranty of a company's financial strength and ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.

BEST'S RATINGS AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE RATINGS See benchmark.  (FPR FPR Ford Performance Racing
FPR Front Patriotique Rwandais (Rwanda Patriotic Front)
FPR Floating-Point Register (CPU architecture)
FPR Fuel Pressure Regulator (automotive) 
)

A.M. Best assigns Individuals to whom property is, will, or may be transferred by conveyance, will, Descent and Distribution, or statute; assignees.

The term assigns is often found in deeds; for example, "heirs, administrators, and assigns to denote the assignable nature of
 to insurance related organizations one of two types of rating opinions, a Best's Rating (A++ to F) or a Financial Performance Rating (9 to 1). The Best's Rating represents an opinion based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation of a company's balance shee strength and operating performance for companies that do not meet the minimum size and/or operating experience requirements for a Best's Rating.
Secure Best's Ratings
A++ and A+                                     Superior
A and A-                                      Excellent
B++ and B+                                    Very Goad
Vulnerable Best's Ratings
B and B-                                           Fair
C++ and C+                                     Marginal
C and C-                                           Weak
D                                                  Poor
E                          Under Regulatory Supervision
F                                        In Liquidation
S                                      Rating Suspended
Secure FPR Ratings
FPR 9                                       Very Strong
FPR 8 and 7                                      Strong
FPR 6 and 5                                        Good
Vulnerable FPR Ratings
FPR 4                                              Fair
FPR 3                                          Marginal
FPR 2                                              Weak
FPR 1                                              Poor


RATING MODIFIERS and AFFILIATION CODES

Under Review (u) Rating Modifiers are assigned as·sign  
tr.v. as·signed, as·sign·ing, as·signs
1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection.

2.
 to Best's Ratings and Financial Performance Ratings to identify companies whose rating opinions are Under Review and may be subject to near-term change. Qualified (q) Rating Modifiers may be assigned to Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Canadian Canadian (kənā`dēən), river, 906 mi (1,458 km) long, rising in NE New Mexico. and flowing E across N Texas and central Oklahoma into the Arkansas River in E Oklahoma.  insurers and UK insurers that meet the minimum size and operating experience requirements for a Best's Rating but do not subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day"
subscribe, take

buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company";
 our interactive rating process. Best's Qualified Ratings are therefore based primarily on a quantitative analysis Quantitative Analysis

A security analysis that uses financial information derived from company annual reports and income statements to evaluate an investment decision.

Notes:
 of a company's balance sheet strength and operating performance. Affiliation Codes are based on a Group (g), Pooling (p) or 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.  (r) affiliation with other insurers.

Rating Modifiers

u - Under Review

q - Qualified

Affiliation Codes

g - Group

p - Pooled

r - Reinsured

NOT RATED CATEGORIES (NR)

Companies not assigned a Bests Rating or FPR are assigned to one of five NR categories which identifies the primary reason a rating opinion was not assigned to the company. For additional information, refer to the Preface.
NR-1                              Insufficient Data
NR-2  Insufficient Size and/or Operating Experience
NR-3                  Rating Procedure Inapplicable
NR-4                                Company Request
NR-5                          Not Formally Followed


FINANCIAL SIZE CATEGORIES (FSC FSC

See: Foreign Sales Corporation
) Assigned to all insurance companies and reflects their size based on their capital, surplus and conditional reserve funds in millions of U.S. dollars, using the scale below. For additional information, refer to the Preface.

FSC I: less than 1

FSC II: 1 to 2

FSC III: 2 to 5

FSC IV: 5 to 10

FSC V: 10 to 25

FSC VI: 25 to 50

FSC VII: 50 to 100

FSC VIII: 100 to 250

FSC IX: 250 to 500

FSC X: 500 to 750

FSC XI: 750 to 1,000

FSC XII: 1,000 to 1,250

FSC XIII: 1,250 to 1,500

FSC XIV: 1,500 to 2,000

FSC XV: greater than 2,000
COPYRIGHT 2001 A.M. Best Company, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Publication:Best's Review
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Jul 1, 2001
Words:515
Previous Article:Best's Rating Changes.
Next Article:Leaders of the Pack.
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