Insurable risks

What is an insurable risk?

Risk is the possibility or chance for something to fail. It is not the actual financial loss. Each day, while driving to work, you may get into a scrape with another car. Or, you might slip, fall, or become injured by the machine while in use. While neither of these accidents will happen, the possibility of both occurring is particular.

There are two kinds of risk, namely speculative and pure. It involves the possibility of gain as well as the possibility of loss. A plausible example of a speculatively risky activity is gambling. With gambling, you and the house both have a winning strategy for gaining.

Before starting the paper, let me introduce you to Joe Consumer. Joe plays cards whenever and where ever he can find a game. Joe has a bet on each hand with the opportunity of gaining or losing a large sum of money. He may either win or lose based on the hands he receives and his skills at playing poker. This has the potential to result in either success or failure. Please be aware that speculative risks are rarely insured.

Why don't insurance companies offer Texas Hold 'em coverage?

Unlike pure risks, speculative risks offer the potential for both loss and gain. There is no gain or profit with pure risk. For example, Joe bought a house, and it all turned out well. He walks into your insurance office in a shiny new Gucci suit with a Pave Diamond Dial Rolex watch strapped onto his wrist. Joe seeks a homeowner's policy and life insurance for his new house since he plans to pursue hobbies that make him susceptible to heart attacks. The life and health insurance on Joe's place and aren't considered pure risks.

What are the characteristics of insurable risk?

Even though insurance is the most common way to manage risk, some risks cannot be insured and are ignored. Insurers won't cover pure risks, those that aren't vulnerable to a loss. With a pure chance, no profit or gain can be attained by a loss.

To be considered insurable, the risk must:

1. Aim for a predictable Loss.

Insurers must be capable of providing predictive statistics to determine the probability of the loss. As previously mentioned, insurers require many homogeneous (similar) risks to accurately calculate the frequency and severity of losses and set their premiums accordingly. Insurers can accurately predict failures and plan for future impacts using the law of large numbers.

2. Be an occurrence.

The risk must have been outside of the insured's control, and it must be unforeseen and accidental. Insurances are not provided for a particular class of losses. For example, it is not unexpected that the chance of a car accident is high; however, the possibility that the tires on your car eventually wear out is not an unexpected loss, and therefore not insurable. Tires are expected to crack or wear out at some point.

3. Not be catastrophic.

It is unlikely that an insurance company will insure risks that will expose it to large losses for many customers at the same time. Free-form loss causes are unpredictable, which makes them uninsurable. They are things like war, nuclear disasters, and flooding. Insurers must establish a minimum limit on the amount that they insure. Some insurance companies will cover catastrophic losses for a relatively low premium, but most high-risk insurance is purchased from surplus and excess insurance companies.

4. Be severable and precise.

An insured risk is one that has an assigned, precisely determinable value. The insurer needs to determine the potential of a loss. Insurers will not accept insurance policies for cover with unknown amounts. Insurers must assess the value of a loss and an injured person's ability to pay. For example, if an insurer is insuring a house, the insurer must know the owner's assets to assess the home's economic value.

5. Be affordable.

The loss must cause a financial hardship for the policyholder or the policyholder's family. Small losses that are not significant enough to cause financial trouble are not insurable. For example, if a tire on an automobile runs over a sharp object and generates a puncture, insurance would not cover this damage. Replacing just one tire is not a large enough risk to warrant insurance coverage. But, if you collided with another person's car, causing an injury to the other person and property damage to that person's car, this would be considered an insurable risk.

What is insurance exposure?

Insurance exposure means almost the same as harm. Exposure means a condition that may expose you to risk or liability. For example, on a new part-time job, Joe cleans windows on skyscrapers. He is exposing himself to the chance of falling from great heights.

What is an insurance loss?

Loss is the amount of money and property that a person suffers due to a bad thing happening. Losses can be partial or total and are as stated in dollars. Some policies only cover direct losses, some only cover indirect losses, and a few covers both. This is a direct physical loss caused by an event such as a fire that damages your house or a car collision that impacts your vehicle.

What is a direct loss?

A consequential loss must be compared to the direct loss. If your house is damaged by a fire and isn't safe to occupy, then you will need money to pay for temporary housing while repairs are being made. In this case, the direct loss is the fire's damage, while the indirect loss is the temporary housing from the fire.

What is the law of averages?

The Law of Large Numbers states that we can predict what will happen to a large group of similar risks, even if we consider many more events. As a group gets large, the accuracy of predictions gets better. These statistics indicate potential loss costs for insurance companies. For property and casualty insurance, the company only knows how many house fires will occur during the year, not which houses will be affected. Companies must determine this information to set insurance premiums. These predictions help determine what the insured premium will be on the specific risk.

What is insurance peril?

A peril is something that makes a loss. Some of the more common pitfalls are:

1. Fire: Any time your house burns down—fire is the peril.
2. Accidents: If a red light runs without stopping, the impact is the threat.
3. Problems: If a gas stove heats off, the situation will escalate. When a rapid rises and floods an area—the peril is a flood.
4. Death: For example, the risk of death from heart disease. If you have heart disease, the heart disease itself is your peril.

Risks are often referred to as covered risks, meaning the chances of the named perils are covered. If not listed in the insurance policy, a limit of insurance is in place, meaning collision is excluded. Unless flood is mentioned explicitly in a homeowners insurance policy, it will not be covered.

What are common hazards?

A health issue increases the chance and severity of a health problem. There are hazards in a situation before a peril occurs; however, the risk causes the loss. For example, driving on icy roads may result in you sliding off the road and hitting a telephone pole. In this situation, what is the danger? What potential harm could occur? Hazard = ice peril = a car hits an equipment pole.

1. Moral hazard.

A moral hazard results from the decision to do something wrong or act less carefully in light of knowing that the insurance will cover the loss. Have you ever considered faking your accident to collect on an insurance claim?. You may be tempted but did not indulge yourself. If you defied that temptation, it would be considered unethical. It is unethical to create a loss (either by design or by lack of care for the situation) to profit from an insurance claim.

2. Safety Hazard.

A safety hazard refers to an event where a person's actions or attitudes cause a loss. People texting while driving can negatively affect the morale of their employees. Failing to wear a safety belt would lead to a loss of confidence.

3. Physical Threat.

This one's simple. Physical hazards exist throughout the workplace and increase the chances of accidents. The physical hazards include slippery surfaces, icy conditions, faulty building construction, and other similar risks.