Markel Int'l Insurance Co. Upgraded By Best
NU Online News Service, July 2, 11:18 a.m. EDT?A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating of U.K.-based Markel International Insurance Company Ltd. to "A-Minus" (Excellent) from "B-Double-Plus" (Very Good), citing "prospective excellent risk-adjusted capitalization and improving underwriting performance."
The outlook for the newly upgraded rating is "stable", A.M. Best said.
On the company's improved underwriting figures, the Oldwick, N.J.-based rating agency said the insurer's retained losses of $54 million between 2000 and 2002 reflected not just losses related to Sept. 11 terror events but also "poor underwriting control and deterioration of old year liabilities," especially in asbestos-related claims.
But A.M. Best noted that Markel's management has since implemented strict underwriting controls, which created prospective improved underwriting performance. The ratings agency said it expects the company's combined ratio to improve significantly this year, to around 100 percent.
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