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Insurer Safety and Failures blog
Affiliated and offshore reinsurance, the questions policyholders askEven-handed answers on why insurers cede risk, how affiliated or offshore reinsurers work, what collateral does, the disclosure debate and what you can check.If an annuity company fails: how state guaranty coverage respondsWhat typically happens, stage by stage, to annuity owners when an insurer is placed in rehabilitation or liquidation, and how per-person guaranty limits apply.Demutualization from board vote to first share, a policyholder's timelineThe order of events when a mutual insurer converts to a stock company, from the plan of conversion to the effective date, and what each notice asks of you.A worksheet to add up your coverage per insurer against guaranty limitsA repeatable table for listing each policy and annuity by insurer, comparing the totals with guaranty limits, and deciding whether a gap is worth acting on.Four households and how guaranty association limits would apply to eachFour hypothetical households, with different policies, annuities and insurers, show where baseline guaranty limits fully protect and where gaps appear.Seven myths about whether a life insurer can really failSeven common claims, such as insurers cannot fail or a big name is a guarantee, tested against how guaranty associations and rehabilitation work.What happens, in order, when a life insurer enters rehabilitationA timeline from regulator concern to court-ordered rehabilitation, payment holds, the plan and the exit, with what a policyholder sees at each stage.Should you leave your insurer after a ratings downgrade?Seven criteria for staying or moving after a downgrade, three worked households, the true cost of replacing a policy, and a decision list.Mutual, stock and private-equity-backed insurers and what changes for youWho owns a life insurer, whose interests dominate, how capital and dividends work, and what the ownership label can and cannot tell a policyholder.When your policy is moved to another company, and what assumption meansHow blocks of policies move between companies through sales, reinsurance, assumption and administrator changes, and what each leaves legally unchanged for you.How to read a financial strength rating report line by lineA walk through an invented rating announcement: grade, outlook, review status, rationale and rating factors, and what each line tells a policyholder.Reading an insurer's financial strength before you buy an annuityA grouped checklist for judging the company behind an annuity: ratings from several agencies, filings, ownership, complaints and what a guaranty limit covers.Reserves and risk-based capital and how regulators test solvencyHow reserves, surplus and asset-liability matching work, and how risk-based capital ratios act as an early-warning trigger, shown on a toy balance sheet.