The Standard & Poor's Corporation said it had downgraded the claims-paying ability of a Travelers pool to AA, from AA-plus.

Initially they consisted of guaranteed investment contracts, or GICs, which were backed solely by the issuer's claims-paying ability.

And Moody's and Standard & Poor's have both rated Presidential's claims-paying ability to be weak relative to that of competitors.

S.&P. lowered its ratings on the claims-paying ability of five insurers.

Aetna's earnings report came a day afterMoody's Investors Service Inc. downgraded the insurer's claims-paying ability to "excellent," from "exceptional."

More important, in practice, but still faulty were the ratios applied by credit-rating firms in deciding how to grade insurers' claims-paying ability.

The Standard & Poor's Corporation, citing increased asset problems, yesterday lowered its ratings of the claims-paying ability of four life insurers.

Its claims-paying ability has been downgraded by ratings services.

As the number and size of insured bond issues grew, regulatory concern arose that bond defaults could adversely affect even a large multiline insurer's claims-paying ability.

The military could, for instance, establish regional insurance panels that would take proposals from insurers based on price, claims-paying ability, suitability standards, complaint handling and solvency ratings.