LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Performance Assessment (assessment) of PA-3 (Strong) of Corin Underwriting Limited (Corin) (United Kingdom) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Corin Underwriting (Europe) GmbH (Corin Europe) (Germany). The outlook of the assessment is stable.
The assessment reflects Corin’s strong underwriting capabilities, excellent governance and internal controls, strong financial condition, strong organisational talent, and strong depth and breadth of relationships.
In AM Best’s view, Corin Europe’s operations exhibit a number of commonalities with Corin. Additionally, Corin Europe is regarded as strategically and financially important as it is the group’s platform in the European Economic Area. Corin Europe is integrated into Corin with common underwriting practices and performance trends.
Corin is a managing general agent (MGA) specialising in casualty lines in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Corin’s underwriting capabilities benefit from strong in-house knowledge and expertise in its target markets. Embedded in the underwriting process is the use of technology, which supports process efficiencies, as well as actionable data analytics. As part of its business model, Corin manages claims in house, effectively resolving claims in a timely manner and taking into consideration run-off risks. Since commencing underwriting in 2017, Corin has demonstrated robust growth in its target markets. The company has generated profitable business for its capacity providers; however, it is viewed to have a limited track record given its relatively short operating history and the long-tail nature of its casualty business.
Corin’s governance framework, internal controls and committee structure is considered robust relative to the size and complexity of its operations. The company is viewed to have an effective internal audit process and appropriate frequency of review. IT systems allow for real time monitoring of performance and oversight by capacity providers. Given Corin’s size, key person risk does exist; nevertheless, this is partially mitigated by shared responsibilities at the senior level along with policies and procedures in place for delegated duties.
Corin’s financial position is supported by its consistently profitable operations since its inception and positive net worth. The company has a parent holding company, CUG Holdings Limited, which has debt obligations that are expected to be serviced by regular dividend payments from Corin. However, financial leverage is considered manageable and interest coverage adequate. Corin’s limited earnings diversification by programme is considered an offsetting factor.
The company is staffed appropriately with experienced leadership that serves the casualty insurance needs of high hazard contractor-led businesses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The organisation has a compact structure with a clear path of reporting duties. Corin’s organisational talent benefits from continuous training and development of staff.
Corin underwrites a limited number of programmes focused on its niche and specialist market position. The company maintains exclusive arrangements with capacity providers for each of its programmes. Corin’s dependence on a relatively small number of (re)insurance partners is considered an offsetting factor in the assessment of depth and breadth of relationships. This is partially mitigated by the long-term relationships maintained by the (re)insurance partners with Corin’s management and the evergreen contracts in place with Corin containing minimum termination period clauses.
This press release relates to Performance Assessments that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the Performance Assessments referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s website. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Performance Assessments, please view Guide to Best’s Performance Assessments for Delegated Underwriting Authority Enterprises. 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.
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