Life Insurance

Protection and peace of mind. When you purchase term life insurance, this is what you're buying – peace of mind because you know, should something happen, you have protected your family financially. The great part? It's fairly inexpensive, especially if you shop around. Insurance.com is here to help you do just that – comparison shop for life insurance quotes. We know getting a good deal from a brand-name life insurance company doesn't have to be hard.

Comparing quotes at insurance.com just makes sense

If you don't compare real rates for term life insurance, you could pay too much. Everyone understands this. But filling out multiple life insurance applications and calling dozens of companies takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. Insurance.com saves you that time by giving you a better way to shop and buy the life insurance coverage you need. In just three minutes you'll have companies competing for your business. Then, in cooperation with our long-time friends at Matrix Direct, you can choose the company that's best for you. And guess what? You could save up to 75% on your term life insurance premium.

Health Insurance

It goes without saying, health insurance provides essential financial protection for your family. But as healthcare costs keep rising, it is more important than ever to make sure be able to afford. But don't pay for coverage you don't need.

Call it a "teach a man to fish" moment. Learn the basics about healthcare insurance and you are on your way to finding the right policy for you and your family not just for now, but for all time.

Global insurance industry

Global insurance premiums grew by 3.4% in 2008 to reach $4.3 trillion. For the first time in the past three decades, premium income declined in inflation-adjusted terms, with non-life premiums falling by 0.8% and life premiums falling by 3.5%. The insurance industry is exposed to the global economic downturn on the assets side by the decline in returns on investments and on the liabilities side by a rise in claims. So far the extent of losses on both sides has been limited although investment returns fell sharply following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and bailout of AIG in September 2008. The financial crisis has shown that the insurance sector is sufficiently capitalised. The vast majority of insurance companies had enough capital to absorb losses and only a small number turned to government for support.

Advanced economies account for the bulk of global insurance. With premium income of $1,753bn, Europe was the most important region in 2008, followed by North America $1,346bn and Asia $933bn. The top four countries generated more than a half of premiums. The US and Japan alone accounted for 40% of world insurance, much higher than their 7% share of the global population. Emerging markets accounted for over 85% of the world’s population but generated only around 10% of premiums. Their markets are however growing at a quicker pace.

Types of insurance

-Auto insurance

-Home insurance

-Health

-Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Insurance

-Casualty

-Life

-Property

-Liability

-Credit

Insurers' Business Model 2

Claims

Claims and loss handling is the materialized utility of insurance; it is the actual "product" paid for, though one hopes it will never need to be used. Claims may be filed by insureds directly with the insurer or through brokers or agents. The insurer may require that the claim be filed on its own proprietary forms, or may accept claims on a standard industry form such as those produced by ACORD.

Insurance company claims departments employ a large number of claims adjusters supported by a staff of records management and data entry clerks. Incoming claims are classified based on severity and are assigned to adjusters whose settlement authority varies with their knowledge and experience. The adjuster undertakes a thorough investigation of each claim, usually in close cooperation with the insured, determines if coverage is available under the terms of the insurance contract, and if so, the reasonable monetary value of the claim, and authorizes payment. Adjusting liability insurance claims is particularly difficult because there is a third party involved, the plaintiff, who is under no contractual obligation to cooperate with the insurer and may in fact regard the insurer as a deep pocket. The adjuster must obtain legal counsel for the insured (either inside "house" counsel or outside "panel" counsel), monitor litigation that may take years to complete, and appear in person or over the telephone with settlement authority at a mandatory settlement conference when requested by the judge.

Insurers' Business Model 1

Underwriting and investing

The business model can be reduced to a simple equation: Profit = earned premium + investment income - incurred loss - underwriting expenses.

Insurers make money in two ways:

1. Through underwriting, the process by which insurers select the risks to insure and decide how much in premiums to charge for accepting those risks;
2. By investing the premiums they collect from insured parties.

The most complicated aspect of the insurance business is the underwriting of policies. Using a wide assortment of data, insurers predict the likelihood that a claim will be made against their policies and price products accordingly. To this end, insurers use actuarial science to quantify the risks they are willing to assume and the premium they will charge to assume them. Data is analyzed to fairly accurately project the rate of future claims based on a given risk. Actuarial science uses statistics and probability to analyze the risks associated with the range of perils covered, and these scientific principles are used to determine an insurer's overall exposure. Upon termination of a given policy, the amount of premium collected and the investment gains thereon minus the amount paid out in claims is the insurer's underwriting profit on that policy. Of course, from the insurer's perspective, some policies are "winners" (i.e., the insurer pays out less in claims and expenses than it receives in premiums and investment income) and some are "losers" (i.e., the insurer pays out more in claims and expenses than it receives in premiums and investment income); insurance companies essentially use actuarial science to attempt to underwrite enough "winning" policies to pay out on the "losers" while still maintaining profitability.

Principles of insurance

The six principles of insurance are:

1. Indemnity – Insurance is a contract of indemnity where the insurance company indemnifies the insured against certain risks for a consideration known as premium.
2. Insurable interest – means the loss of which will directly affect the insured.
3. Utmost good faith – means that the insured and the insurance company will not willfully hide anything from each other.
4. Mitigation – means the insured will not behave irresponsibly and will take due care so that the risk of loss or the loss is minimized.
5. Subrogation – means the insurance company acquires legal rights to act on behalf of the insured i.e. the insurance company steps into the shoes of the insured.
6. Causa Proxima or Proximate Cause – means the proximate cause of loss to ascertain whether the loss is covered under the policy.

Insurance

Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance. The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.