What does an Insurance Company
do?
Insurance companies are universally categorized
into two groups: Life Insurance Companies and Non-life Insurance Companies. A
life insurance company sells annuities, pension products, and life insurance,
whereas a non-life insurance company will offer general policies for the
protection against losses realized to consumer products or services.
Insurance is an economic and legal tool that
operates as a form of risk management for consumers and companies. An insurance
product is typically used as a form of hedge against the risk of a contingent
or realized loss. The product is defined as an equitable transfer of the risk
or a loss from one entity to another in exchange for a tangible payment.
As a result,
the insurer or company who offers insurance will sell the hedge or risk
management tool to the insured individual. The entity that purchases the policy
will be protected from damages or a loss attached to the underlying product or
resource.
All insurance companies provide the risk
management tool to accrue a profit. Although insurance companies are in
business to realize a financial gain, the policies offered enable the consumer
protection against an elevated cost. All insurance companies utilize an
insurance rate, which is a factor used to determine the price charged for a
certain amount of coverage.
Principles
An insurance company can provide a policy for
seemingly any consumer product or valuable service. Houses, property, credit,
automobiles, boats, medical care, a person’s life, and various consumer
products are typically attached with some form of insurance policy.
An insurance company provides these policies to
a consumer base by pooling funds from multiple insured entities to pay for the
losses that may incur. As a result of this relationship, the insured entities
are protected from risk for a fee charged by the insurance company. That being
said, all insurance companies will evaluate particular scenarios and
individuals to ascertain which goods or entities are in fact insurable. An
insurance company will adjust the rates attached depending on the likelihood
that the individual or the good attached will incur damages and costs to the
insurance company.
All private insurance companies incorporate a
model which prices seven potential types of risks: accidental losses, large
losses, calculable losses, a definite loss, large number of similar exposure
units, an affordable premium, and a limited risk of catastrophically large
losses.
Legal Issues Attached to Insurance Companies
When an insurance company insures an entity,
there are basic legal requirements attached to the policy and the transaction
of the product. The following list contains examples of basic legality issues
that affect an insurance company’s business model:
Indemnity: The insurance company will compensate
the insured entity in the case of certain losses only up to the insured
interest.
Utmost Good Faith: The insurance company and
the insured entity are tied together through the agreement by a good faith
bond. The contract must be honored with honesty and fairness, and all material
facts must be disclosed in the agreement. A failure to institute the agreed
upon contractual obligation will result in a lawsuit and a termination of the
policy.
Insurable Interest: The insured entity must
directly suffer from the loss to realize coverage. The policy holder must
possess a “stake” in the damages suffered or the monetary loss of their insured
good or service.
