AM Best Removes From Under Review With Positive Implications and Affirms Credit Ratings of United Casualty and Surety Insurance Company
- November 13, 2026 12:56 PM (EST)
//BestWire// - AM Best has removed from under review with positive implications and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of United Casualty and Surety Insurance Company (UCS) (Omaha, NE). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is positive.
The ratings reflect UCS’ balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
CopperPoint Insurance Company (CopperPoint) closed its acquisition of the surety insurance business unit, General Indemnity Group, LLC (GIG), from Boston Omaha Corporation (Boston Omaha) on Oct. 23, 2026. This acquisition provides CopperPoint with countrywide surety capabilities and is expected to strengthen its specialty service offerings. In this all-cash acquisition, CopperPoint acquired all the outstanding equity interests of GIG, comprising UCS; BOSS Bonds, an industry-leading surety placement platform; and SuretyBonds.Market, a proprietary technology platform developed by GIG. The Securities Purchase Agreement was signed on May 18, 2026, and the gross sales price was $84.3 million.
Immediately prior to closing, UCS distributed all its common stock ownership in Sky Harbour Group Corporation's (Sky Harbour) Class A back to its parent company, Boston Omaha, valued at approximately $25.3 million. Upon closing of the transaction, CopperPoint completed a capital contribution to UCS, including $28.2 million in cash and $51.6 million in fixed income securities. The contribution of $28.2 million offsets the reduction in UCS’ surplus due to the pre-close distribution of Sky Harbour stock, and the additional contribution will enable UCS to report total surplus of approximately $100 million and ultimately increase the company’s T-listing.
The positive outlooks reflect the benefit UCS has received from the large capital contribution, including a significant improvement in risk-adjusted capitalization and the benefit from being part of the CopperPoint organization. AM Best will monitor the impact of business synergies and profitable growth going forward.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM 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 see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings (BCR), Best’s Performance Assessments (PA), Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments (PCA) and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.