AM Best Withdraws Credit Ratings of Universal Insurance Company (Guernsey) Limited

AM Best has maintained the under review with negative implications status for the Financial Strength Rating of B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bb” (Fair) of Universal Insurance Company (Guernsey) Limited (UIC) (Guernsey). Concurrently, AM Best has withdrawn these Credit Ratings (ratings) as the company has requested to no longer participate in AM Best’s interactive rating process.

The ratings were placed under review with negative implications on 1 November 2024 following the capitalisation in September 2024 of Protect Insurance PCC Limited (Protect), which is a fully owned subsidiary of Universal Holdings (Guernsey) Limited (UHL), UIC's parent company. This significantly reduced the cash available at UHL's level, from GBP 7 million at fiscal year-end 2024 (30 June 2024) to an estimated GBP 1 million at the end of September 2024. Protect was set up as a new risk carrier in Gibraltar, in the form of a Protected Cell Company, as part of UHL's group restructuring.

The under review with negative implications status reflects the continued uncertainty regarding the impact of the UHL group's restructuring on UIC's credit fundamentals.

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 specialising 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.

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