Loss development leads to Desjardins p&c downgrade

The p&c subsidiaries of Desjardins Group have had their public data rating downgraded by rating agency A.M. Best. The subsidiaries of the Quebec-based insurer include Assurances Generales des Caisses Desjardins Inc., Personal General Insurance Inc. and The Personal Insurance Company.Assurances Generales and Personal General’s ratings were downgraded to B++ from A-, while The Personal’s rating fell to B from B+.The Personal’s Ontario operations were seen as an issue, while adverse loss development by Assurances Generales last year was also cited.However, A.M. Best notes that Assurances Generales and Personal General both show strong capitalization and good operating performance.Desjardins recently reported that its p&c operations had posted a loss for the first quarter 2003 of $4.7 million, versus net income of $0.3 million in the first quarter 2002.