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S&P Raises Tower Insurance Co. Inc. Rating to `BBBpi'

19 September 2000

S&P Raises Tower Insurance Co. Inc. Rating to `BBBpi'

    NEW YORK--Standard & Poor's--Sept. 19, 2000-- Standard & Poor's today raised its financial strength rating on Tower Insurance Co. Inc. to triple-'Bpi' from double-'Bpi.'
    The rating action is based on the company's reinsurance agreement with Atlas Assurance Co. of America (Atlas) (financial strength rating triple-'Bpi'), in which (effective Oct. 1, 1999) Atlas assumes all of the company's business.
    The company mainly writes commercial multiperil and private passenger automobile insurance, and its products are marketed primarily through independent general agents. The company, which is based in Pewaukee, Wis., and licensed in 13 states, began business in 1961.
    The company (NAIC:36919) is a member of a group of affiliated insurers owned by LIH US P&C Corp., of which all the outstanding shares are owned by Liberty Insurance Holdings Inc. (formerly Guardian Royal Exchange Holdings Inc.), an insurance holding company incorporated in Delaware, of which all the outstanding shares were purchased by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. (financial strength rating double-'A'-minus) on May 10, 1999.
    '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.