Starstone Insurance rating affirmed

AM Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A- of Bermuda-based Starstone Insurance (SIBL) and its Liechtenstein affiliate StarStone insurance SE (SISE) with a stable outlook.  

The credit ratings of the two companies, which ceased active underwriting in 2020, reflected their balance sheet strengths, which AM Best assessed as very strong, as well as their marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

“Both companies’ ratings benefit from the support of their ultimate parent, Enstar Group, which has a track record of providing these subsidiaries with financial assistance and operational support,” AM Best said.

The ratings agency added that both companies ceased writing new business in July 2020, and SIBL has since disposed of its US subsidiaries. SIBL bears the liabilities of business written prior to the disposal date of these companies through reinsurance agreements. A wholly owned subsidiary of SIBL also ceased its participation in Lloyd’s Syndicate 1301 at the end of 2020, and the subsidiary was sold in 2021. The liabilities of the business written during 2020 and prior Lloyd’s underwriting years of account, which were retained by SIBL, have been transferred, through reinsurance to close, into Enstar’s Legacy Syndicate 2008 at the start of 2023.

“Despite the companies’ improved operating performance since entering into run-off, the marginal assessments reflect their poor historical performance” AM Best said. “Their limited business profile assessments consider their reduced scale as a result of corporate disposals and decision to cease writing new business.”

Starstone Insurance Enstar run-off insurance AM Best ratings