An international rating of an insurance company helps to assess its ability to meet its financial obligations, but it does not replace checking the licence, the financial statements and the terms of a specific policy. This page preserves the historical ratings published in the original material; before using any value, always check the current rating and its date on the rating agency’s website.

Important: a rating may be upgraded, downgraded, withdrawn or placed under review. Ratings from different agencies cannot be compared directly by letters alone, because each scale has its own definitions and methodology.

For domestic companies, obtaining international ratings is more of a fashion than a real necessity, but the trend is towards all insurance companies having international ratings in the future. This is mostly due to the need to take part in tenders whose requirements specify international ratings.

You can read more about ratings in the article Who needs this financial rating?

JSC Insurance Company “Eurasia”

  • credit rating “bbb+”
  • financial strength rating at the level of “B++”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

JSC “Neftyanaya Insurance Company” (Oil Insurance Company)

  • credit rating “b+”
  • financial strength rating at the level of “B+”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

JSC Insurance Company “NOMAD Insurance”

  • credit rating “B”
  • financial strength rating at the level of “B”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

JSC IC “Amanat Insurance”

  • credit rating “b-”
  • financial strength rating at the level of “B-”
  • the outlook for both ratings is negative.

JSC IC "Halyk"

  • credit rating “bbb”
  • financial strength rating at the level of “B++”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

JSC IC "Centrance Insurance"

  • financial strength rating at the level of “B2”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

Generali Group

  • credit rating “AA-”
  • financial strength rating at the level of “AA-”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

JSC IC "Kommesk Omir"

  • financial strength rating at the level of “Ba3”
  • the outlook for both ratings is stable.

JSC “Halyk Life”

  • financial strength rating at the level of B+
  • credit rating at the level of bbb -

JSC "Freedom Finance Insurance"

  • financial strength rating at the level of B

What an insurer’s rating shows

A financial strength rating expresses the agency’s opinion on an insurance organization’s ability to meet its obligations to policyholders. A credit rating may assess the issuer’s overall default risk or that of a specific debt instrument. These assessments are related but answer different questions, so in a tender or a contract it is important to specify the type of rating required.

What goes into the assessment

  • capital and solvency;
  • asset quality and liquidity;
  • the insurance portfolio and risk concentration;
  • loss ratio and earnings stability;
  • reinsurance protection;
  • risk management and corporate governance;
  • support from the group or shareholders;
  • sovereign and industry risks of the country.

The agency analyses not only current figures but also the company’s sensitivity to stress scenarios. For example, it takes into account major insured events, currency and market fluctuations, concentration on individual clients and the quality of reinsurers.

How to read the symbols

A letter grade normally refers to a particular rating scale. The “+” and “−” signs refine the position within a category. An outlook of “stable”, “positive” or “negative” reflects the possible direction of change in the medium term, but is not in itself a new rating.

A watch or review status may be published separately. It means that the agency is analysing an event that could affect the rating relatively quickly: a transaction, a change of owner, a major loss, a restructuring or a regulator’s decision.

International and national scale

The international scale makes it possible to compare the risks of issuers from different countries, taking country risk into account. The national scale shows a company’s relative position among issuers in one country. A high rating on the national scale cannot automatically be treated as equal to the same letter category on the international scale.

Why a policyholder needs a rating

For a mass-market policy, a rating is an additional source of information. For a large corporate risk, long-term life insurance, an annuity or reinsurance, its importance increases, since the obligations can be substantial and long-lasting. At the same time, even a high rating does not guarantee payment for an event that the contract excludes.

Compulsory insurance services are provided only by insurance companies that hold the relevant licence. A rating does not replace a licence: an organization without authorization does not gain the right to sell a compulsory policy merely because of a high rating.

How to check a rating

  1. Find out the company’s full legal name and BIN.
  2. Find the issuer’s page on the rating agency’s official website.
  3. Check the type of rating: financial strength, credit rating or national scale.
  4. Verify the publication date and the latest rating action.
  5. Read the outlook, the review status and the press release with the rationale.
  6. Check whether the rating was withdrawn after the old list was published.

Ratings in tenders and contracts

If a rating is set as a qualification requirement, the wording must be precise: the agency, the minimum level, the scale, the type of assessment, the permitted outlook and the date as of which it must be valid. A requirement of “not lower than B” without specifying the scale can be ambiguous.

You should also check whether the rating applies directly to the insurance company, to its parent group or to a separate bond issue. A shareholder’s rating does not always automatically extend to its subsidiary insurer.

Limitations of ratings

  • a rating is a professional opinion, not a guarantee;
  • it is based on the data and assumptions available to the agency;
  • the financial position may change between publications;
  • a rating does not assess the quality of a specific contract;
  • different agencies use different scales and methodologies;
  • a historical value must not be passed off as current.

Summary

International ratings of insurance organizations are useful for comparing financial strength and analysing large long-term obligations. Use them together with the licence, the financial statements, the ownership structure, the policy terms and the quality of claims settlement. The list below is preserved as a historical snapshot and must be verified against primary sources as of the date of your decision.