Definition of "Insurance futures"

Futures contracts (legally binding contract that stipulates that delivery of an asset will be taken or delivery of an asset will be made at a future time at an agreed upon price at the current moment) on insurance lines to include catastrophic insurance futures, automobile insurance futures, homeowners insurance futures, and so forth, traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Traditionally, precious metals such as gold and silver; agriculture commodities such as cattle, corn, and soy beans; and United States Treasury issues such as bonds and bills, have all been traded on the CBOT. The aim of the transaction with these futures is to cancel the contract with a gain before the delivery of the commodity. (Who would want cattle delivered to their house?) On the other hand, the insurance futures contract concerns itself with the dollar value the market attaches to an index. In turn, this index is an expectation of how much of the premium income generated by a particular line of insurance will have to be allocated to pay off incurred losses. For example, if the automobile insurance line generates an income of $5,000,000 and the market has an expectation that 90% of that income will have to be allocated to paying off incurred losses, the market will value that futures contract at a price somewhat less than $450,000. This is because of such factors that have to be accounted for as incurred but not reported losses (IBNR).

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

In an insurance policy, sentences and paragraphs describing various coverages, exclusions, duties of the insured, locations covered, and conditions that suspend or terminate coverage. ...

Coverage for an insured when negligent acts and/or omissions result in bodily injury and/or property damage on the premises of a business, when someone is injured as the result of using the ...

Health plan that pays a flat fee for each patient it covers. ...

Earnings by an insurance company from dividends on its equity portfolio, rent from real estate and other property it owns, and interest on its bond holdings. ...

Addition to the homeowners INSURANCE POLICY AND COMMERCIAL PACKAGE POLICY that provides liability and medical coverage for damages resulting from the operation of motor boats too large to ...

Publication stipulating underwriting rules applicable for a given line of insurance, classifications of exposures within that line of insurance, and premium rates per classification. For ...

Reinstatement of an insurance policy or bond to its original face amount (face of policy) after the payment by the insurer of a loss. The purpose of this type of coverage is to indemnify ...

Protection for all classes of business including automobile, fire, general liability, homeowners, multiple peril, burglary, and glass, by combining the contracts for these classes of ...

Failure to exercise proper care. Many property insurance policies exclude losses that result from negligence. Neglect is also the basis for many liability suits. If an injury can be ...

Popular Insurance Questions