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
Agreement by the insured that, simply because the insurer investigates and determines a value for the claim, the insurer does not admit liability for the claim. ...
Reserve at the beginning of the policy year that is equal to the terminal reserve for the preceding year plus the net level premium for the current year. ...
Phrase used to describe a method of annuity payout that guarantees a specified number of years, regardless of whether an annuitant remains alive. ...
Plan for excess layer (s) of insurance coverage over the primary coverage, for example, if a corporation buys $8 million as excess above a $2 million self insurance retention level. Excess ...
Coverage during the transfer of securities and monies, precious metals, and other specified types of valuables by armored guard services. Policies are specifically designed to fit an ...
Financial statement, issued by the insurance company on a monthly basis to its agents, showing for each agent his or her commissions earned, premiums written, policy cancellations, and any ...
Homeowners policy to cover the owner of a townhouse. ...
Base upon which a mortality table is built by beginning with a randomly selected group of people who are alive at the earliest age for which statistics are available on the number of people ...
Property coverage on a dealer's interest in equipment while it is being installed. Labor and material are protected against such perils as fire, lightning, and windstorm. For example, if an ...
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