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How do Insurance companies make money?

An insurer’s business model is as follows: Earned Premium + Investment Income – Incurred Loss – Underwriting Expenses = PROFIT.

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 and (2) by investing the premiums they collect from insureds.

The most difficult 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.

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Insurance News

  1. Do I tell insurers about cancelled policies? 1 Sep 2010
    I had a policy cancelled by Saga because of an error in my document wording - do I have to disclose this to new insurers?
  2. Insurer aims to protect at risk home owners 23 Aug 2010
    A new home insurance service was launched today which aims to provide cover for the 15% of people who are often rejected by other insurers…
  3. How we snared crash insurance fraudsters 21 Aug 2010
    A journey from hospital saw pensioners Alma and Eric Gallanders become one of 700 victims of one of Britain’s biggest insurance frauds…
  4. Pet owners ditch vet insurance as costs soar 18 Aug 2010
    The cost of pet insurance has rocketed by 28% in just two years, forcing many households to abandon protection for their beloved cats and dogs…