AM Best affirms Through Transport Mutual Insurance and subsidiaries' a-minus ratings

By Isha Marathe

June 13 - (The Insurer) - AM Best has affirmed the A-minus financial strength ratings and "a-minus" long term issuer credit ratings of Through Transport Mutual Insurance Association Limited (TTB), and its subsidiaries, TTI and TTNV, collectively known as TT Club.

The outlook for these ratings is stable.

The ratings of TTI and TTNV reflect their strategic importance to TTB, and the support they receive from TTB in the form of comprehensive reinsurance protection.

Specialist mutual TT Club operates in the international transport and logistics industry. It offers property and liability risk covers for port, ship and logistics operators, and provides loss prevention and risk management services to its members.

TTB’s adequate operating performance is demonstrated by a five-year weighted average return-on-equity ratio of 4.3%. TTB reported technical losses in 2023 and 2024, in part driven by higher reserves booked for U.S. bodily injury claims due to the elevated loss experience of this line in recent years, AM Best said.

In addition, TT Club elected to expense the cost of an information technology project upfront in the years 2021 to 2024, rather than capitalizing it on the balance sheet. These factors resulted in the company reporting a five-year weighted average combined ratio of 100.8%, AM Best said.

AM Best said the group's balance-sheet strength is "very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management."

AM Best said it sees TTB’s moderate dependence on reinsurance - which is used to manage the club’s capacity - as an offsetting balance sheet strength assessment factor.

"The associated risks are mitigated partially by the high credit quality of the club’s reinsurance partners, many of which TT Club has long-established relationships with," the ratings agency said.