Life insurance companies are rated by agencies such as A. M. Best, S+P, Moody’s and Fitch. Enclosed is a recent listing of ratings, and a link to the homepage of each major insurance company in Canada. However I would not put too much stock in these ratings for two reasons.
1. These ratings reflect the operating stability of the company, and do not necessarily relate to how a consumer will experience the company and what type of customer experience they will receive. Also the value of these ratings where questioned during the 2008 financial crisis when many companies with top ratings got into deep trouble or failed.
2. Life insurance companies have better protection for consumers than ratings in that they are heavily regulated and closely supervised. The power for this supervision is given to Assuris who do annual ongoing stress tests on every life insurance company using rigorous standards as to solvency and claims paying ability. If an insurance company becomes insolvent or fails, Assuris will work with the liquidator to quickly move the assets intact to a solvent insurance company. Member companies who are part of Assuris are listed here. More Details as to the specific protection offered by each product category is at Protection for Individual products.
How Insurance Companies are Rated
Feb 23, 2014