A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit ratings of “a+” of Queen City Assurance and Vine Court Assurance Incorporated, both domiciled in Vermont. The outlook of these credit ratings is stable. In March 2019, A.M. Best upgraded the long-term issuer credit ratings from “a” to “a+”. The ratings reflect the group's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings are based on Queen City and Vine Court’s individual and combined profiles as single-parent captives of The Kroger, one of the world’s largest food retailers, which conducts business throughout the US. A.M. Best recognises the critical role and mission of the captives and the substantial financial resources and support available to them as single-parent captives providing tailored insurance coverage for property/casualty risks to Kroger. The ratings reflect the captives’ individual and combined excellent risk-adjusted capitalisation and above-average underwriting and operating profitability, which according to A.M. Best, continues to foster healthy capital growth. The rating firm adds: “Conservative investments and strong adherence to the parent’s robust risk controls and overall risk culture also lends to maintaining its strongest balance sheet assessment, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio.”
