Following are ve of the known ratings
agencies, with telephone numbers and
website addresses:
A.M. Best Company
No cost membership required
(908) 439-2200, Ext. 5742
www.ambest.com
Demotech, Inc.
Property/Casualty company ratings only
(800) 354-7207
www.demotech.com
Fitch
(888) 262-4820
www.tchratings.com
Moody’s Investors Service
(212) 553-1653
www.moodys.com
Standard & Poor’s
(877) 772-5436
www.standardandpoors.com
Though it does not rate insurance
companies, the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
Consumer Information Source is a good
source of key nancial information about
individual insurance companies. The
website for the NAIC can be found at
www.naic.org.
State of Nebraska
Department of Insurance
PO Box 82089
Lincoln, Nebraska 68501-2089
Phone (402) 471-2201
Fax (402) 471-2990
Toll-free consumer hotline:
1-877-564-7323
TDD (800) 833-7352
www.doi.nebraska.gov
Ratings Agencies
What are they and how do I
reach them?
Rev. 1/19
OUT02127
Information from the Nebraska
Department of Insurance
If you are interested in learning what
happens to policy claims when an
insurance company fails, you can ask the
Department or visit our website at
doi.nebraska.gov/sites/doi.nebraska.gov/
les/doc/GuarantyFunds.pdf for a
brochure about Nebraska Guaranty Fund
Protection.
There are over 1,500 insurance
companies authorized to sell insurance
in Nebraska. You may be wondering
how to pick the best company to suit
your needs.
As a government agency, the
Department of Insurance does not
recommend or endorse any insurance
companies or insurance products. We
can provide you with some nancial
information about insurance companies
from our public records.
In addition, the Department of
Insurance can tell you how long an
insurance company has been in
business, and whether the Department
has imposed any administrative actions
on a company for failing to comply with
Nebraska’s insurance laws.
Some private businesses review
insurance companies’ nancial
information, management experience,
investments, and/or business strategies
in order to rank them. These private
businesses are called “ratings
agencies.” They assign a rating based
on their opinion of the company’s
nancial stability.
There are several ratings agencies from
which you can request a rating. A few
agencies provide this service for free. Oth-
er agencies charge a fee for this
information.
A rating can give you some idea of the
company’s likelihood to stay in
business and be successful. However, it
should be noted that ratings are not
perfect. Companies with high ratings have
failed in the past.
Also, a rating may not necessarily indicate
whether an insurance company provides
good customer service. If customer
service is of primary concern to you, ask
trusted friends, relatives, or your doctor’s
oce if they have any experience working
with a particular insurance company.
When requesting an insurance
company’s rating, you should also ask
for a description of the rate scale used
by the agency. By doing so, you will
better see how one insurance company
compares to other insurance companies.
For example, under one agency’s rating
system, an insurance company might
have earned an “A.” That may seem
like the best rate possible, but the
agency may have rated other
companies with an “A+” or an “A++,”
which is preferable to an “A.”
It is also a good idea to see if the
insurance company’s rating has
changed over the last few years. Is it
improving or declining?
You should also ask the agency about
the cost of any information. If you are
interested in obtaining free
information, you can call your public
library’s reference desk and ask if they
have any reference books on
insurance company ratings.
The ratings from A.M. Best Company
are commonly found in reference
libraries. The ratings from A.M. Best
Company are also available as an
outside link on the Department of
Insurance website at doi.nebraska.gov.