Milbank Insurance Co. Assigned 'Api' Rating by Standard & Poor's

5 October 1998

    NEW YORK, Oct. 2 -- Standard & Poor's today assigned its
single-`Api' insurer financial strength rating to Milbank Insurance Co.
    The company is licensed in 25 states.  Its major line of business is
private passenger auto liability, and it is a member of State Automobiles
Insurance Companies, a large insurance group with surplus in excess of
$100 million.  The company commenced operations in 1892; and the principle
state in which it operates is Minnesota.
    As a consequence of an interaffiliate pooling arrangement with State
Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. under which it receives 10% of the pool,
Milbank Insurance is assigned a rating of single-'Api'.
    'Pi' ratings, denoted with a pi subscript, are insurer financial strength
ratings based on an analysis of an insurer's published financial information
and additional information in the public domain.  They do not reflect in-depth
meetings with an insurer's management 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 the insurer's
financial security occurs.  Ratings with a pi subscript are not subject to
potential CreditWatch listings.
    Ratings with a pi subscript generally are not modified with 'plus' or
'minus' designations.  However, such designations may be assigned when the
insurer's financial strength rating is constrained by sovereign risk or the
credit quality of a parent company or affiliated group, Standard & Poor's
said. -- CreditWire