Best’s News & Research Service - June 05, 2026 03:55 PM (EDT)
AM Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Ratings of National Security Fire and Casualty Company and National Security Insurance Company; Upgrades Credit Ratings of Omega One Insurance Company, Inc.
- June 05, 2026 03:55 PM (EDT)
//BestWire// - AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “bb+” (Fair) from “bb” (Fair) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B (Fair) of National Security Fire and Casualty Company (NSFC). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. AM Best also has upgraded the Long-Term ICR to “bb+” (Fair) from “bb” (Fair) and affirmed the FSR of B (Fair) of National Security Insurance Company (NSIC). The outlooks have been revised to stable from negative. In addition, AM Best has upgraded the FSR to B (Fair) from B- (Fair) and the Long-Term ICR to “bb” (Fair) from “bb-” (Fair) of Omega One Insurance Company, Inc. (Omega). The outlook of these ratings is stable. All companies are domiciled in Elba, AL, and are subsidiaries of PhenixFIN Corporation, which operates as a business development company.
The ratings of NSFC reflect the company’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
The upgrade of NFSC’s Long-Term ICR reflects the improvement of the company’s balance sheet strength in 2025, driven by a significant improvement in profitability as the group reported net income following a few years of losses. The group benefited from a benign catastrophe (CAT) year and favorable development on prior loss years, as well as below average non-CAT losses. These improved results reflect deliberate underwriting actions the group has taken to derisk its portfolio in recent years. Results also improved at National Security Group Holdings, Inc. (NSGHI), an intermediate holding company of the group, which resulted in an improvement in the holding company assessment and a positive impact on the overall balance sheet assessment of NFSC.
The ratings of NSIC reflect the company’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and marginal ERM.
The upgrade of NSIC’s Long-Term ICR reflects the improvement of the balance sheet strength assessment driven by a significant improvement in the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization. This improvement was driven primarily by a capital contribution in April 2026 following a preferred equity issuance at NSGHI in March 2026. This contribution was used to pay off affiliated notes and strengthen capital, both of which were significant factors in the improvement of the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization.
The ratings of Omega reflect the company’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, very limited business profile and appropriate ERM.
The rating upgrades for Omega reflect the overall improvement of the consolidated group and a reduction of drag from its immediate parent, NSFC.
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.