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
Coverage for property which moves from location to location either on a scheduled or unscheduled basis. If the floater covers scheduled property, coverage is listed for each item. If a ...
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 ...
Rating system under which a specific premium rate, rather than a manual or class rate, is assigned to each unit of exposure. ...
Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP); trust (ESOP) under which an employer received tax credit instead of a tax deduction for contributions. Until passage of the tax reform act of 1986, the ...
Soliciting of customers for the purchasing of an insurance product. ...
Death from other than accidental means. ...
Federal legislation that established the old age survivors, disability, and health insurance (OASDHI). ...
Circumstance that increases the likelihood or probable severity of a loss. For example, the storing of explosives in a home basement is a hazard that increases the probability of an ...
Insurance sold by a stock insurance company that is usually in the form of nonparticipating insurance. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.