AM Best Places Credit Ratings of Brightsideco Insurance Limited Under Review With Negative Implications

SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#insurance—AM Best has placed under review with negative implications the Financial Strength Rating of B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of �bb+” (Fair) of Brightsideco Insurance Limited (Brightsideco) (New Zealand).

These Credit Rating (rating) actions follow Brightsideco’s plan to move its extended warranty portfolio distributed by Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (Harvey Norman), a large electrical goods retailer based in Australia, into run-off from 1 August 2022. This follows notification from Harvey Norman that it will not renew its contract with Brightsideco upon its expiry on 31 July 2022. The abovementioned portfolio represents 99% of Brightsideco’s total insurance liabilities and is expected to run-off through 2029.

The ratings have been placed under review with negative implications to reflect continued uncertainty over Brightsideco’s prospective business profile as it explores opportunities to provide comparable underwriting services to existing and new non-Harvey Norman customers.

The ratings will remain under review pending Brightsideco’s decision on its future business plan, and until AM Best can fully assess the impact of these factors on the company’s business profile and balance sheet strength fundamentals.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

Sin Yee Chuah, CFA
Financial Analyst
+65 6303 5022
sinyee.chuah@ambest.com

Michael Dunckley, CFA
Director, Analytics
+65 6303 5020
michael.dunckley@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jeff Mango
Managing Director,
Strategy & Communications
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5204
jeffrey.mango@ambest.com