I get asked quite often about admitted and non-admitted carriers when providing quotes to my clients. This is a good question since it causes confusion about the type and quality of the coverage we are offering. I hope the following explanation helps to clarify the difference. For more information, please visit my website at www.insuranceprotection.net.
Some insurance companies do business in California on an "admitted" basis and some do business on a "non-admitted" basis. This designation does not indicate the financial strength of the insurance company or the insurance company's ability or willingness to pay claims. An independent company that rates insurance companies can be visited on the web at: www.ambest.com. For example, Evanston Insurance Company is a non-admitted carrier in California and they have an A, IX (9) rating. This is a very high rating and you can see the explanation of the ratings at the A.M. Best website. Lloyds of London also does business in California on a "non-admitted" basis and has a rating of A+15. By comparison, a large percentage of our building contractors are insured with a company called Lincoln General. Lincoln General is admitted, but has a lower rating of A-,VII.
You can also check the California Department of Insurance for more information. http://www.insurance.ca.gov/. The list of companies that are allowed to do business in California on a "non-admitted" basis are on what is called the LESLI list. You can type this in the website's search for more information on this list. I have been told that the requirements for being on the LESLI list are actually more stringent than for those that want to pay the dues to be on the list of companies doing business on an "admitted" basis.
In a nutshell, I see no problem with non-admitted companies and think that you should look at the financial rating of a company as determined by A.M. Best instead of whether a company wants to pay into California to be called an "admitted" company. We send requests for quotes out to underwriters and receive back quotes from admitted and non-admitted companies in nearly equal amounts depending on the work being performed by the insured. We ask them for the best price with solid companies, but we can ask them specifically to provide us quotes only with admitted companies if you want to see if there is an admitted company that would insure you and at what price. Keep in mind, however, that often times if the underwriter provides us with a quote from a non-admitted carrier it is because there is not an admitted market for the type of work you may be doing.
