AM Best Revises Outlooks to Stable for Greenville Casualty Insurance Company

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from positive and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bb+” (Fair) of Greenville Casualty Insurance Company (Greenville Casualty) (Greer, SC).

The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Greenville Casualty’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management.

The revised outlooks to stable from positive reflect the substantial deterioration in Greenville Casualty’s underwriting and operating performance in 2021, which resulted in a moderate decline in policyholders’ surplus. These results fell significantly short of management’s financial projections. The deterioration in the company’s underwriting results was driven by a sharp decline in net premiums written due to the runoff of Greenville Casualty’s existing South Carolina private passenger non-standard auto program and a delay in the implementation of its new ISO-based program. The deterioration in underwriting results also was driven by the settlement of two bad faith claims.

The rating affirmations were based on Greenville Casualty’s strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), and modest underwriting leverage, which were derived from modest growth in policyholders’ surplus and reduced premium writings over the most recent five-year period. Management anticipates that premiums will rebound with its new South Carolina auto program, and improved claims results due to initiatives implemented by the company.

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, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments 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. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.