AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Queen City Assurance, Inc. and Vine Court Assurance Incorporated

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a+” of Queen City Assurance, Inc. (Queen City) and Vine Court Assurance Incorporated (Vine Court) (both domiciled in Burlington, VT). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect the group’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

The ratings are based on Queen City’s and Vine Court’s individual and combined profiles as single-parent captives of The Kroger Co. (Kroger), one of the world’s largest food retailers, which conducts business throughout the United States. The ratings reflect the captives’ individual and combined excellent risk-adjusted capitalization and above-average underwriting and operating profitability, which continues to foster healthy capital growth. Conservative investments and strong adherence to the parent’s robust risk controls and overall risk culture also lends to maintaining its strongest balance sheet assessment. AM Best also recognizes the critical role and mission of the captives and the substantial financial resources and support available to them as single parent captives of Kroger.

AM Best remains the leading rating agency of alternative risk transfer entities, with more than 200 such vehicles rated in the United States and throughout the world. For current Best’s Credit Ratings and independent data on the captive and alternative risk transfer insurance market, please visit www.ambest.com/captive.

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 media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.

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 New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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Dan Teclaw
Senior Financial Analyst

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Christopher Sharkey

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Susan Molineux

Director

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Jim Peavy

Director, Public Relations

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