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When you buy long term care
insurance, it's wise to make certain that
the issuing company is financially sound.
The A.M. Best Company, Standard & Poor's,
and Moody's Investors Services are
well-regarded rating companies that provide
objective measures of insurance companies'
creditworthiness.
The A.M. Best Company:
A.M. Best is perhaps the best known of all
the insurance rating companies. It publishes
over 50 different information products about
insurance companies and the insurance
industry. Here is an overview of what the
A.M. Best rating system means.
See Ratings
Standard & Poor's: Standard and
Poor's rates the claims-paying ability of
over 300 insurance organizations worldwide,
and monitors public data on another 2,000
U.S. companies.
See Ratings
Moody's: Moody's Ratings, founded in
1909, rates the financial strength of a
variety of investment vehicles and
institutions, including corporate bonds,
preferred stock, short-term debt, mutual
funds and insurance companies.
See Ratings
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A.M. Best |
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A++
A+ |
Superior: Company has
demonstrated superior overall
performance and has a very
strong ability to meet its
obligations to policyholders
over a long period of time. |
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A
A- |
Excellent: Company has
demonstrated excellent overall
performance and has a strong
ability to meet its obligations
to policyholders over a long
period of time.
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B++
B+ |
Very Good: Company has
demonstrated very good overall
performance and has a good
ability to meet its obligations
to policyholders over a long
period of time.
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B
B- |
Adequate: Company has an
adequate overall performance and
can meet its obligations to
policyholders, but may be
vulnerable to unfavorable
changes in underwriting or
economic conditions. |
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Standard & Poor's |
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AAA |
Superior: Superior financial
security on an absolute and
relative basis. Capacity to meet
policyholder obligations is
overwhelming under a variety of
economic and underwriting
conditions. |
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AA |
Excellent: Excellent financial
security. Capacity to meet
policyholder obligations is
strong under a variety of
economic and underwriting
conditions. |
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A |
Good: Good financial security,
but capacity to meet
policyholder obligations is
somewhat susceptible to adverse
economic and underwriting
conditions. |
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BBB |
Adequate: Adequate financial
security, but capacity to meet
policyholder obligations is
susceptible to adverse economic
and underwriting conditions. |
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Moody's |
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Aaa |
Exceptional: Exceptional
financial security. While the
financial strength of these
companies is likely to change,
such changes as can be
visualized are most unlikely to
impair their fundamentally
strong position. |
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Aa |
Excellent: Excellent financial
security, together with the Aaa
group, they constitute what are
generally known as high-grade
companies. They are rated lower
than Aaa companies because
long-term risks appear somewhat
larger. |
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A |
Good: Good financial security.
However, elements may be present
which suggest a susceptibility
to impairment sometime in their
future. |
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Baa |
Adequate: Adequate financial
security. However, certain
protective elements may be
lacking or may be
characteristically unreliable
over any great length of time. |
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*Any insurance company
with a rating lower than the ones listed
should most likely be avoided when
buying long term care insurance.
Consult your long term care insurance
specialist.
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