Underwriting Cycle
Tendency of property and liability insurance premiums, insurers' profits, and availability of coverage to rise and fall with some regularity over time. A cycle can be said to begin when insurers tighten their underwriting standards and sharply raise premiums after a period of severe underwriting losses. Stricter standards and higher premium rates often bring dramatic increases in profits, attracting more capital to the insurance industry and raising underwriting capacity. On the other hand, as insurers strive to write more premiums at higher levels of profitability, premium rates may be driven down and underwriting standards relaxed in the competition for new business. Profits may erode and then turn into losses if more tax underwriting standards generate mounting claims. The stage would then be set for the cycle to begin again.
Popular Insurance Terms
Traditional HMO made up of physicians who are salaried by the HMO. These physicians treat solely HMO members who are covered only if they use HMO physicians and hospitals. ...
Private, not-for-profit-group that develops and publishes safety codes and standards relating to protection of people and property against fire. The NFPA is financed by fees for technical ...
Coverage for a common carrier (the insured) for damage or destruction due to radioactive contamination from commercial radioisotopes of a property in the custody of the insured or that of a ...
Type of pension plan in which the employer (if noncontributory plan) or the employer and employee (if contributory plan) make level annual premium payments to fund the future retirement ...
Provision in an umbrella liability insurance policy under which the policy will pay those losses that come within the retention limits of the primary policy, but the primary policy cannot ...
In property insurance, amount that an insured does not have to pay when a loss exceeds a predetermined sum; here the insurance company pays more than 100% of the loss, so that the ...
Coverage under the Homeowners Form-4 (HO-4) for the insured's personal property and loss of use against fire and/or lightning; vandalism and/or malicious mischief; windstorm and/or hail; ...
Demand without foundation, such as a claim submitted to an insurance company by an insured who caused a loss, or for a loss that never occurred. ...
Method of payment of an insurance premium that allows an insured to regulate the amount and frequency of the premium payments in accordance with cash flow over a stipulated period of time. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.