AM Best Assigns Performance Assessment to Corin Underwriting Limited and Corin Underwriting (Europe) GmbH

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has assigned a Performance Assessment of PA-3 (Strong) to Corin Underwriting Limited (Corin) (United Kingdom) and Corin Underwriting (Europe) GmbH (Corin Europe) (Germany). Corin Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Corin. The outlook assigned to the Performance Assessment (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 European platform. Corin Europe is integrated into Corin and has 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 of 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 in recent years; 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 are 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 the company’s size, key person risk does exist; however, this is partially mitigated by policies and procedures in place for cascading responsibilities.

Corin’s financial position is supported by its consistently profitable operations since 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, the 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 serving 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. The company’s dependence on a relatively small number of (re)insurance partners is considered an offsetting factor to the assessment of depth and breadth of relationships. This is partially mitigated by the long-term arrangements with carriers, robust relationships and minimum termination periods.

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.

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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