All tinhat policies are underwritten by Astrenska Insurance Limited. Astrenska are an ‘unrated’ insurer, but are authorised by the Prudential Regulation and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. As such are held to the same high standards as any other UK insurer.
What is an unrated insurer?
An unrated insurer is one that does not currently carry a ‘financial strength rating’. Ratings are conducted by a number of international rating agencies, but ultimately they provide an assessment of an insurance organisation’s financial strength – and therefore their ability to pay claims to its policyholders.
Insurer ratings can differ depending on the agency conducting the assessment, but most use a leeter grade scale to indicate the degree of credit risk. An ‘A’ rating, for example, indicates that an insurer has an excellent ability to pay claims – whereas a ‘C’ rating means that the insurer may be less able to pay claims. Unrated insurers simply haven’t been rated at all in terms of their financial strength, and so statistically speaking have a higher risk of failure. There can, however, be benefits to using an un-rated insurer.
Benefits of an unrated insurer
Unrated insurers can sometimes offer more competitive rates than rated insurers, translating to lower premiums for customers.
Depending on your personal circulmstances, an unrated insurer can sometimes offer cover that a rated insurer can’t.
What happens if an unrated insurer fails?
Our policies with Astrenska are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and so if they were to fail and be unable to pay out for your claim you may be entitled to compensation. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available at www.fscs.org.uk or by telephoning 0207 741 4100.
Our decision to use an unrated insurer
We only work with insurance partners that have a strong reputation within the UK, and follow a rigorous due diligence process. We monitor their financial position, service standards, claims and complaints data to ensure that they meet our expectations and those of our customers.
We hope that this information proves useful and helps you to make an informed decision about whether or not a tinhat insurance policy is right for you. If you need any more information, please contact us.
