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S&P Assigns Midwest Security Insurance Co. 'Api' Rtg

9 March 2000

S&P Assigns Midwest Security Insurance Co. 'Api' Rtg

    NEW YORK--Standard & Poor's--March 8, 2000-- Standard & Poor's today assigned its single-'Api' financial strength rating to Midwest Security Insurance Co. (Midwest).
    Midwest is a stock company based in Columbus, Ohio, domiciled in Wisconsin, and licensed in Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Its major lines of business are private passenger auto insurance and homeowners' insurance. Midwest, which distributes its products primarily through independent general agents, commenced operations in 1974.
    Midwest was acquired in early 1997 by State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. and became a member of the State Auto Group (State Auto), a large insurance group with 1998 surplus of $703.3 million.
    The rating is based on Midwest's interaffiliate pooling arrangement with State Auto, which became effective Jan. 1, 1998, and under which it receives 1% of the pool.
    '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