I got a great question today about what our insurance partner's rating is. While we don't have an insurance partner we can tell you about yet (don't worry, we are working hard on that and making progress, I like to think), I thought it would be a good idea to summarize the ratings for the current companies (as of Aug 1 2005 - this is now out of date but I will update later. Laura).
- Hartville Group - no information available. Their website says the policies are underwritten by the London Markets and my policy from them names QBE Insurance as the insurer.
- Pet Protect - A rated. Underwritten by The Insurance Corporation of Hannover, which is owned by Hannover Re.
- PetFirst Healthcare - A rated. Underwritten by State National Insurance Company, a subsidiary of State National. 90% or more of the insurance risk is taken by one or more reinsurers that are not disclosed by the pet insurance company.
- PetPartners - A rated. Underwritten by National Specialty Insurance Company, a subsidiary of State National. 90% or more of the insurance risk is taken by one or more reinsurers that are not disclosed by the pet insurance company.
- Pethealth Inc. A- rated. Underwritten by Lincoln General Insurance Company, York , Pa.
- Veterinary Pet Insurance Underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company (not rated, California) and National Casualty Company (rated A+ by AM Best, in all other states), a subsidiary of Nationwide Mutual Insurance.
As a reminder, the top ratings indicate "secure" companies:
- A++, A+ are considered superior,
- A and A- are excellent, and
- B++ and B+ are very good
Anything below that (B, B-, C, D, etc.) is considered "vulnerable", which is a polite way of saying that the insurance company's promises to their policyholders are at risk to some degree. The higher the letter in the alphabet, the higher the risk.
The holy grail is to get an A rating and while a B++ and B+ is still listed as being secure, some potential marketing companies we have talked with have told us that they would never partner with an insurance company with less than an A rating.
If you want to check for yourself, go to the AM Best website and do a search on the company names. The info on this or any pet insurance company's own website may not be fully up to date.
I hope that's helpful.
