INSURANCE

A.M. Best Lowers 9 Insurers’ Ratings: Nine insurance companies’ ratings were reduced by A.M. Best Co., mostly because of losses sustained from Hurricane Andrew, the rating agency said. The downgrades now total 78, a record for the first nine months of the year. An additional 23 companies were placed under review this year because of questions about the adequacy of policyholder surpluses. Twelve more insurers’ ratings are expected to be lowered by year’s end, bringing the total to 5% of all rated companies, said John H. Snyder, senior vice president of the Oldwick, N.J., company.