S&P Raises Hiscox Insurance to ‘A-‘

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on U.K.-based non-life insurer Hiscox Insurance Co. Ltd. (HISCO) to ‘A-‘ from ‘BBB+’ with a stable outlook.

“The upgrade reflects HISCO’s continued strong capitalization and improving operating performance,” stated S&P credit analyst Nigel Bond. “The net combined ratio has improved in each of the past five years, and is expected to fall again this year. This should help drive good growth in shareholder funds through retained earnings and thereby enable HISCO to maintain its strong capitalization.”

S&P said the stable outlook reflects its “expectation that HISCO will maintain its capital adequacy ratio in the middle of the ‘A’ (strong) range.” It also said it “expects the net combined ratio to be consistently between 95% and 98%. In addition, premium growth should not exceed 15% per year over the long term. HISCO is not expected to develop major new business lines or markets.”