What’s New: In Brief (May 21, 2008)

A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) to Echelon General Insurance Company (Echelon General).
Concurrently, A.M. Best assigned an ICR of “bb+” to Echelon General’s publicly traded parent, EGI Financial Holdings Inc. (EGIFHI).
The outlook for both entities was stable.
The rating agency said its ratings for Echelon General was “reflective of its strong risk-adjusted capitalization and operating performance, improved product line and geographic diversification, experienced management team in the non-standard auto and niche product markets as well as the additional financial flexibility of EGIFHI.”
But the ratings were partially offset, A.M. Best noted, by “Echelon General’s concentration in the Ontario non-standard auto market, strong competitive market pressure and an aggressive growth strategy.”
In particular, A.M. Best said it was “concerned about EGIFHI’s aggressive growth plans in the U.S. and Canadian non-standard auto and niche product markets.”
A.M. Best said it would continue to monitor Echelon General’s expansion and CIM Reinsurance Company Ltd., a Barbados affiliate.

ICBC’s Fairness Commissioner Peter Burns says the “the overwhelming majority” of decisions taken in 2007 by ICBC employees and agents in their dealings with the corporation’s customers were “reasonable and fair.”
The commissioner released his 2007 annual report in May.
The commissioner was required to facilitate a solution or agreement between the customer and ICBC in a total of eight files received. “Five of these cases resulted in recommendations being made to ICBC, and all of those recommendations were implemented,” the commissioner noted.
In total, the commissioner’s office received 175 enquiries in 2007. One hundred and ten were found to be unsubstantiated, 43 were resolved by ICBC’s privacy and fair practices department, and 12 were outside the commissioner’s jurisdiction.