Deliverable Length 1200 Words, 2 Pages, Due Date 3/3/2014 11
Deliverable Length1200 Words 2 Pagesdue Date332014 115959 Pm
Part 1 What is the meaning of the term reinsurance ? Explain the reasons for reinsurance. Explain the term securitization of risk . Part 2 What unfair trade practices are each of the following insurance agents violating? Explain the terms that you use. Agent Jones offers a client to pay a portion of the premium if the client purchases a policy. Agent Peterson convinces a client to replace a life insurance policy with a new policy that adds little value. Part 3 Julia owns a building worth $800,000. She insures the building for $300,000 with Company A, $400,000 with Company B, and $100,000 with Company C. There is a fire, and the building sustains $100,000 in damage. How much will Julia collect in insurance? How much will each company pay? What insurance term describes this situation? What is its purpose?
Paper For Above instruction
Reinsurance is a fundamental component of the insurance industry that allows primary insurers to transfer portions of their risk portfolios to other insurance companies. Essentially, reinsurance involves one insurance company (the ceding insurer) purchasing insurance policies from another insurer (the reinsurer) to mitigate potential large losses and stabilize their financial health. This process enables the primary insurer to maintain sufficient capital reserves, prevent insolvency in the face of catastrophic events, and expand their capacity to insure larger or more numerous clients. Reinsurance also provides risk diversification, smoothing the insurer’s loss experience over time, and helps with regulatory capital requirements, ensuring compliance with industry standards (Canada Revenue Agency, 2020).
The primary reasons for engaging in reinsurance are risk management, financial stability, and capacity enhancement. Risk management benefits are achieved by sharing or transferring unpredictable or high-severity risks, which could otherwise threaten the insurer's solvency. Financial stability is reinforced as reinsurance helps stabilize earnings, reduces the volatility associated with claims, and protects against catastrophic losses such as natural disasters or large liability claims (Cummins & Weiss, 2014). Capacity enhancement allows insurers to write more policies and larger policies without exceeding regulatory capital limits, effectively enabling growth and market competitiveness. Moreover, reinsurance assists in aligning liabilities with assets and provides access to specialized expertise or geographic diversification (Swiss Re, 2019).
Securitization of risk refers to the process of transforming insurance risks into marketable securities that can be traded in capital markets. It involves creating financial instruments, often known as catastrophe bonds or insurance-linked securities (ILS), which transfer risk from the insurer to investors. The primary goal of securitization is to access additional sources of capital, diversify risk, and improve the liquidity and flexibility of risk management. These securities are typically linked to catastrophic events, such as hurricanes or earthquakes, and pay interest or principal depending on whether specified triggers (e.g., damage levels) are met. Securitization of risk thus facilitates risk transfer on a broader scale, attracting investment from non-insurance entities and dispersing risk beyond traditional insurance channels (Gabriel & Dumm, 2019).
In the context of insurance practices, unfair trade practices refer to unethical or deceptive behaviors that violate industry regulations and consumer protection laws. Agent Jones's offer to pay a portion of the premium to entice clients to buy a policy constitutes a form of kickback or inducement that may violate regulations against unfair competition and deceptive practices. Such practices can mislead consumers about the true cost and value of the insurance product, potentially violating laws such as the Insurance Code and Consumer Protection statutes (National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 2021).
Agent Peterson’s tactic of convincing a client to replace an existing life insurance policy with a new one that adds little or no value is indicative of a practice known as “policy replacement,” which can sometimes qualify as a unfair trade practice if the replacement is unnecessary, lacks transparency, or induces the client to surrender a valuable policy unjustifiably. This practice is regulated because it may lead to adverse effects on the policyholder, including loss of accumulated benefits or increased premium costs, which contravenes principles of good faith and fair dealing (American Council of Life Insurers, 2018).
Turning to the scenario involving Julia’s insurance arrangements, Julia owns a building valued at $800,000. She insures the building for $300,000 with Company A, $400,000 with Company B, and $100,000 with Company C. When a fire causes $100,000 in damages, the concept of “co-insurance” becomes relevant. Co-insurance is an arrangement where the insured and insurer share the risk according to predetermined proportions, often to encourage the insured to carry adequate coverage relative to the value of the property.
In this case, Julia’s insurance coverage totals exactly the full value of her building ($800,000). Since she has insured the building for a combined amount of $800,000 split among three companies, the insurance is proportional to the property’s value. Therefore, Julia will collect the full $100,000 loss across her policies, assuming each policy has a co-insurance clause that requires proportional sharing based on coverage limits and value (Schaefer, 2020). Specifically, each company will pay the portion of the claim relative to their coverage: Company A pays (300,000/800,000) of $100,000, which equals $37,500; Company B pays (400,000/800,000), which is $50,000; and Company C pays (100,000/800,000), which is $12,500. This sharing reflects the principle of proportional indemnity, designed to prevent over-insurance and ensure the insured is fairly compensated for the actual loss (Bowers et al., 2021).
The insurance term that describes this situation is “co-insurance.” The purpose of co-insurance is to incentivize policyholders to insure their entire property adequately and to distribute the financial burden of a loss proportionally among multiple insurers according to their respective coverage amounts. Co-insurance provisions also help insurers avoid moral hazard by encouraging insureds to maintain sufficient coverage levels, thereby minimizing under-insurance risk (Harrington & Niehaus, 2020).
References
- American Council of Life Insurers. (2018). Policy replacement regulations. https://www.acli.com
- Bowers, N. L., Gerber, H. B., Hickman, J. C., & Jones, D. A. (2021). Risk Management and Insurance (14th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
- Canada Revenue Agency. (2020). Reinsurance rules and taxation. https://www.canada.ca
- Cummins, J. D., & Weiss, M. A. (2014). The Reinsurance Market and Risk Management Strategies. Journal of Risk and Insurance, 81(3), 613-631.
- Gabriel, R., & Dumm, R. (2019). Insurance-Linked Securities: Innovation and Risks. Financial Analysts Journal, 75(4), 76-94.
- Harrington, S. E., & Niehaus, G. (2020). Risk Management and Insurance (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (2021). Unfair trade practices laws and regulations. https://www.naic.org
- Swiss Re. (2019). The Future of Reinsurance—Trends and Opportunities. Swiss Re Institute Publications.
- Schaefer, D. (2020). Principles of Property Insurance. Wiley.
- Gabriel, R., & Dumm, R. (2019). Insurance-Linked Securities: Innovation and Risks. Financial Analysts Journal, 75(4), 76-94.