Definition of "Law of large numbers"

Nora  Sienra real estate agent

Written by

Nora Sienraelite badge icon

Chateaux Realty

Mathematical premise stating that the greater the number of exposures, (1) the more accurate the prediction; (2) the less the deviation of the actual losses from the expected losses (X - x approaches zero); and (3) the greater the credibility of the prediction (credibility approaches 1). This law forms the basis for the statistical expectation of loss upon which premium rates for insurance policies are calculated. Out of a large group of policyholders the insurance company can fairly accurately predict not by name but by number, the number of policyholders who will suffer a loss. Life insurance premiums are loaded for the expected loss plus modest deviations. For example, if a life insurance company expects (x) 10,000 of its policy-holders to die in a particular year and that number or fewer actually die (X), there is no cause for concern on the part of the company's actuaries. However, if the life insurance company expects (*) 10,000 of its policyholders to die in a particular year and more than that number dies (X) there is much cause for concern by actuaries.

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

Individual who represents a ceding insurance company in placing its business with a re insurer. ...

Factors on the application that must be evaluated in order to complete the underwriting process: age; sex; physical condition; personal health history; family health history; financial ...

Approach to derive trend lines that can be applied to rating insured losses. Other methods require substantial preliminary operations to solve systems of equations of several unknowns. The ...

Insurance purchased from an insurance company that has been licensed in the state in which the policy is purchased. This insurance is purchased through an agent or broker who are licensed ...

Policy provision that provides coverage for continuing payroll expense of all employees of an insured business (except for officers and executives) for the first specified number of days of ...

Ruling that is the most significant source for the valuation of closely held corporation capital stock critical to the close corporation plan. This ruling defines the fair market value as ...

Type of mortality table that is based on combined statistics from both the ultimate mortality table and the aggregate mortality table. It shows total statistics for the probability of ...

Circumstance under which there is a significant deviation of the actual aggregate losses from the expected aggregate losses. For example, a hurricane is a hazard that is catastrophic in ...

Standards used to determine claims payments in cases of overlapping property/liability insurance coverage. At one time, each type of insurance had its own rules to govern claims where more ...

Popular Insurance Questions