The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Middlesex Mutual Assurance Assigned 'AA' pi Rating

26 June 1998

Middlesex Mutual Assurance Assigned 'AA' pi Rating by Standard & Poor's
    NEW YORK, June 25 -- Standard & Poor's today assigned its
double-'A' pi insurer financial strength rating to Middlesex Mutual Assurance
Company.
    The company is licensed in Vermont, Maine, Iowa, and Connecticut.
Middlesex Mutual's major line of business is private passenger auto liability,
and the company was recently acquired by Country Mutual Insurance Co.  The
company commenced operations in 1836; and the principal state in which it
operates is Connecticut.

    The following factors were incorporated in the pi rating:
    -- As a pool participant with Country Mutual Insurance Co., the company
       is assigned the pool rating of double-'A' pi under Standard & Poor's
       rating methodology;
    -- Extremely strong capitalization, as measured by a capital adequacy
       ratio of over 300%; and
    -- A liquidity ratio of 156.1%, which is considered good.

    Factors that limit the company's rating are risk-adjusted return on
revenue and weighted average return on revenue, which are considered
relatively low for a higher rating.
    Ratings denoted with a 'pi' subscript are insurer financial strength
ratings based on an analysis of published financial information and additional
information in the public domain.  The ratings do not reflect in-depth
meetings with an insurer's management nor do they incorporate material
nonpublic information, and are therefore based on less comprehensive
information than ratings without a pi subscript.  Pi ratings are reviewed
annually based on a new year's financial statements, but may be reviewed on an
interim basis if a major event that may affect an insurer's financial security
occurs.
    The pi rating process covers U.S. insurers to which Standard & Poor's
previously assigned quantitative ('q') ratings, and may include information
beyond that used to derive the previous quantitative-only ratings.  Pi ratings
are not modified with 'plus' or 'minus' designations, nor are they subject to
potential CreditWatch listings, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire