SINGAPORE, April 11 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of B+ (Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” of New Zealand Local Government Insurance Corporation Limited (New Zealand), trading as Civic Assurance (Civic).
 
The revised outlooks for the FSR and ICR mainly reflect Civic’s substantial reduction of reinsurance counterparty risk following the settlement of Canterbury earthquake claims between Christchurch City Council, Civic and its panel of reinsurers.
 
Civic’s risk-adjusted capitalization, as determined by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is strongly supportive of the current ratings. In addition, Civic’s non-insurance income, being a steady stream of administrative fee and investment income, is projected to fully cover its operating expenses and post a moderate profit on an ongoing basis.
 
An offsetting factor in Civic’s rating assessment is its diminished business profile, reflective of a company that has not issued any new insurance policies for a number of years. As a result, Civic’s business continues to reflect only outstanding claims reserves and no reported premium revenue Additionally, uncertainty and material execution risk exist with regard to the company’s future operating plan as a small insurer targeting to underwrite relatively high limit policies.
 
Negative rating actions could occur should there be a significant deterioration in Civic’s capitalization or liquidity drain due to unexpected increase in expenses or capital repatriation.
 
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
 
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 see A.M. Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page.
 
A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
 
Copyright © 2016 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 
Contacts
A.M. Best
Larina Huang
Associate Financial Analyst
+65 6589 8400, ext. 218
larina.huang@ambest.com

or

Jason Shum
Senior Financial Analyst
+65 6589 8400, ext. 217
jason.shum@ambest.com

or

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

or

Jim Peavy
Assistant Vice President, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source: A.M. Best

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