Fitch downgrades Mercury General, notes

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded Mercury Casualty Co.’s insurer financial strength rating to A from A+.

Mercury Casualty is the principal operating subsidiary of Mercury General Corp.

The agency also downgraded Mercury General’s issuer default rating to BBB+ from A- and senior unsecured notes to BBB from BBB+.

At the same time, Fitch withdrew the issuer default rating of Mercury Casualty as it is no longer considered to be relevant to the agency's coverage because the entity is no longer issuing debt.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch said the actions reflect performance that has lagged similarly rated peers in calendar-year underwriting performance, including prior-year adverse development reported from recent accident years.

The ratings also consider Mercury General’s strong capitalization and strong competitive position in the California personal lines market, the agency added.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.