Traders Cut to ‘Bpi’

S&P’s lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Traders Insurance Co. (Traders) to “Bpi” from “Bbpi.” The ratings agency lowered the company’s ratings based on “weak and volatile operating performance, limited operating scope, and decline in liquidity,” according to S&P’s credit analyst Alan Koerber.

Based in Kansas City, Mo., the stock company writes mainly basic limits private passenger auto in Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Indiana. Traders’ products are distributed primarily by independent agents. The company, which began business in 1982, is licensed in Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The company is 100 percent owned by Concannon Group of Companies Inc. and is affiliated with Professional Claims Inc., the only other wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company. Traders is the parent company of Express Auto Insurance Agency LLC.

Traders Insurance Co. is rated on a stand-alone basis.