AM Best has placed under review with negative implications the Financial Strength Rating of B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bb” (Fair) of Universal Insurance Company (Guernsey) Limited (UIC) (Guernsey).

These actions on the Credit Ratings (ratings) follow the capitalisation in September 2024 of Protect Insurance PCC Limited (Protect), which is a fully owned subsidiary of Universal Holdings (Guernsey) Limited (UHL), UIC's parent company. This has significantly reduced the cash available at UHL's level, from GBP 7 million at fiscal year-end 2024 (30 June 2024) to an estimated GBP 1 million at the end of September 2024. Protect has been set up as a new risk carrier in Gibraltar, in the form of a Protected Cell Company, as part of UHL's group restructuring.

The ratings have been placed under review with negative implications as AM Best needs time to assess the impact of the UHL group's restructuring on UIC's credit fundamentals, which remain under pressure due to the uncertainty associated with its strategic direction.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. 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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