INSURANCE

Prudential Insurance’s Debt Rating Lowered: Standard & Poor’s lowered its ratings on $3.15 billion worth of Prudential Insurance Co. of America bonds because of the insurer’s losses from Hurricane Andrew. The downgrade, to AA+ from the top AAA rating, signifies that higher risk is associated with owning Prudential debt. That means that the Newark, N.J., company may be forced to offer higher interest rates to attract investors. Prudential expects more than $1 billion in claims from the hurricane and, because of that, forecasts a 1992 loss of $500 million.