X-Message-Number: 2310
From: whscad1!kqb (Kevin Q Brown +1 201 386 7344)
Subject: CRYONICS Life Insurance Ratings

Cryonic suspension usually is financed with life insurance, but
determining what is a good policy and what is a good insurer
is not an easy task.  To help with that, you may want to read
the July 1993 issue of Consumer Reports, which has the first
of their three reports evaluating life insurance.  Of course,
they do not have in mind funding for cryonic suspension, so
their criteria for good life insurance differ somewhat from ours.
Nevertheless, they provide some useful background information on
the life insurance industry.  In particular, their roundup of
the ratings agencies is worthwhile reading.  They point out that,
in recent years, failing insurance companies often were not
downgraded quickly enough by some of the ratings agencies.
For example, only Weiss predicted that Executive Life and
Mutual Benefit would fail.

If, after reading the Consumer Reports article, you would like
to get current ratings of insurance companies, here are the phone
numbers and prices I obtained recently at my local library:

  Bests    (900) 420-0400  $6.00 per rating / $15.00 for detailed rating
  Moodys   (212) 553-1653  Free - limit of 3 ratings per call
  S&P      (212) 208-1527  Free - limit of 3 ratings per call
  Weiss    (800) 289-9222  $15.00 per rating / $45. for detailed rating
  Duff & Phelps  (312) 368-3157  Free - limit of one rating per call

Please let me know if any of this information is out-of-date.

				     Kevin Q. Brown
				     
				     

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