Rate Making
Process of calculating a premium so that it is adequate-sufficient to pay losses according to expected frequency and severity, thereby safeguarding against the insurance company becoming insolvent; reasonable-the insurance company should not be able to earn an excessive profit; and not unfairly discriminatory or inequitable. Theoretically, it can be said that each insurance applicant should pay a unique premium to reflect a different expectation of loss, but this would be impractical. Instead, classifications are established for applicants to be grouped according to similar expectation of loss. Statistical studies of a large number of nearly homogeneous exposures in each underwriting classification enable the projection of losses after adjustments for future inflation and statistical irregularities. The adjusted statistics are used to calculate the pure cost of protection, or pure premium, to which the insurance company adds on loads for agent commissions, premium taxes, administrative expenses, contingency reserves, other acquisition costs, and profit margin. The result is the gross premium to be charged to the insured.
Popular Insurance Terms
Nonparticipating life insurance under which the first few annual premiums are smaller than would be the case under a traditional nonparticipating policy. While the maximum amount of these ...
Contracts of reinsurance in which expected income from investments is a major component of the UNDERWRITING process. Also, the ultimate liability of the reinsurer is limited. The reinsurer ...
Surcharge, in retrospective rating of property and liability insurance, added to the basic premium rate charged to reflect fixed cost of adjusting or settling losses. ...
Homeowners policy to cover the owner of a townhouse. ...
Organization of trial attorneys who specialize in the representation of defendants who become subject to tort actions. Generally, these tort actions involve bodily injury or personal injury ...
Combination of coverages from property and liability policies. ...
Coverage for shippers of certain radioactive materials, such as medical or commercial isotopes, for direct loss or damage by radioactive contamination; does not cover transport of ...
Theory, named after the British economist John Maynard Keynes, that deals with current consumption at the expense of saving. This theory has important implications for life insurance ...
Title of a published set of rules, adhered to by member companies of major property and liability associations, that stipulate how losses should be adjusted when the same loss is covered by ...
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