Best’s News & Research Service - May 06, 2015 12:33 PM (EDT)
A.M. Best Upgrades Ratings of Farmers Insurance Company of Flemington
- May 06, 2015 12:33 PM (EDT)
Oldwick //BestWire// - A.M. Best has upgraded the financial strength rating to B++ (Good) from B+ (Good) and the issuer credit rating to "bbb" from "bbb-" of Farmers Insurance Company of Flemington (FICF) (Flemington, NJ). The outlook for both ratings remains stable.
The rating actions reflect FICF's positive underwriting trends, strengthened risk-adjusted capitalization and local market expertise in writing personal and Main Street commercial business in New Jersey. These positive rating factors are somewhat offset by FICF's concentration risk exclusively in the New Jersey marketplace, comparatively high common stock leverage and elevated underwriting expense ratio. The ICR upgrade further reflects A.M. Best's acknowledgement of the company's favorable performance in relation to its peers. The outlook recognizes A.M. Best's expectation that risk-adjusted capitalization and underwriting performance should continue to trend favorably.
The outlook could be revised to negative if the company's favorable operating performance were to deteriorate or if risk-adjusted capitalization were to weaken.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best's Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Best's rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Best's Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology .
Key insurance criteria reports utilized:
- Catastrophe Analysis in A.M. Best Ratings
- Risk Management and the Rating Process for Insurance Companies
- Understanding BCAR for Property/Casualty Insurers
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.
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