A.M. Best Upgrades Westport to A+
Big “I” Professional Liability Program
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 9, 2007 A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) to A+ (Superior) from A (Excellent) of Westport Insurance Company, the endorsed agency E&O provider of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc. (The Big “I”). The A+ (Superior) strength rating combined with placement in the maximum Financial Size Category (FSC) Class XV places Westport in the top 5% of property-casualty insurers tracked by A.M. Best.
The Westport agency professional liability product is exclusively available to Big “I” members in 50 states and the District of Columbia and the program dates back to the mid-1980s when the Big “I”-Swiss Re relationship began.
“The best just got better,” says IIABA CEO, Bob Rusbuldt. “It is gratifying when a prestigious independent organization like A.M. Best upgrades a key company partner. This confirms our commitment to our member agencies and state associations to provide them access to the very best available in products and services.”
According to A.M. Best’s online Rating Center, 534 of the 5,316 total reported insurance companies achieve an A+ or higher rating (10%). Of the company groupings evaluated in Best’s Key Rating Guide (2006 Edition) 38 of 1,000 “Rating Units” are given the FSC rating of Class XV (3.8%). Combined there are 292 reported companies with an A+ (Superior) or higher FSR rating and FSC Class XV rank or 5.5%, according to the Rating Center.
“It is a great comfort to our member-insureds to know they are with a company ranked in the top 5% of all companies rated by Best,” said Mark Wolf, Big “I” AVP and head of the Big “I” Professional Liability Program. “As we watch the insurance industry face ever larger catastrophes, our agents are on an increasingly more dangerous risk-solution front line. It’s very important our members have the proper professional liability solutions so they too can sleep at night.”
Big “I” member agencies interested in obtaining coverage through the program can go to www.independentagent.com/eo to find contact information at one of the 51 Big “I” state associations. Not a member? Agencies that have not joined the Big “I” can also obtain membership information at that site. For more information about the program, contact Pam Andrews; pam.andrews@iiaba.net or 800-221-7917.
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.