AM Best Downgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. and Its Key Subsidiaries
AM Best has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) to "a" (Excellent) from "a+" (Excellent) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) of Safety Insurance Company, Safety Indemnity Insurance Company, Safety Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Safety Northeast Insurance Company. The outlook of the Long-Term ICRs has been revised to stable from negative while the outlook of the FSR is stable. Collectively, these companies are referred to as Safety Group. At the same time, AM Best has downgraded the Long-Term ICR to "bbb" (Good) from "bbb+" (Good) of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (Delaware) (NASDAQ:SAFT), the publicly traded parent of Safety. The outlook of the Long-Term ICR has been revised to stable from negative. All companies are domiciled in Boston, MA, except where specified.
The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Safety's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
The Long-Term ICR downgrades reflect a trend of deterioration in Safety Group's risk-adjusted capitalization position since year-end 2021, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). This reduction is attributed to the group's absolute surplus level declining while net written premium, net reserves and Safety Group's probable maximum loss estimate have all increased since. Inflationary trends and rate increases have also had a significant impact. Ultimately, these factors have led to Safety Group's risk-adjusted capitalization position declining to the strong level following 1Q 2025, down from the strongest level at year-end YE 2021. Company management has indicated its strategic goal is to remain within the strong range.
AM Best assesses Safety Group's operating performance as strong due to five-year average pretax and total returns on revenue and equity that compare favorably with AM Best's private passenger and homeowners' composite averages. The group's five-year average combined ratio remains below breakeven and outperforms the composites as well.
AM Best assesses Safety Group's business profile as neutral due to its consistent position as a top five carrier in the personal auto, commercial auto and homeowners' market in Massachusetts with a modestly diverse product offering. AM Best also views Safety Group's ERM as appropriate, supported by its comprehensive risk management framework that is well-documented in its Own Risk Solvency Assessment report.
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 specializing 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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