Insurance Company, Choosing An
Consideration should be given to a company's capacity to underwrite a particular risk, as indicated by its financial standing, claims philosophy, price structure, agent representation, loss prevention and reduction services, and risk analysis expertise. Information can be gained in several ways:
- Reputation a prospective insured can fairly easily learn something about an insurance company through business and professional associates (lawyer, accountant, banker), through conversations with others in the same field, and by discussions with agents and brokers.
- Financial capacity larger businesses and public libraries often have up-to-date reference books, such as Best's Insurance Reports(available in Life-Health and Property-Casualty editions) giving detailed analyses of hundreds of companies.
- State Insurance Department information about specific insurance companies may be available from the insurance departments located in state capitals.
Popular Insurance Terms
Annual contributions to a pension plan that exceed or are smaller than the minimum required for future employee benefits currently being earned; and any supplemental liability for past ...
Combination of the funds of many policyholders held in a single account and invested as a single entity. ...
Contractual rights to a stipulated percentage of the increase in the value of an insurance agency over a given future period of time. They are used to convey a percentage of the increase in ...
Securities that derive their value from other financial instruments that are used by the insurance company to hedge its bets on which direction the market is moving. For example, cattle ...
Cash carried forward from the previous year, plus gains from operations for the current year, plus any capital gains. ...
Central (main) office of an insurance company whose facilities usually include actuarial, claims, investment, legal, underwriting, agency, and marketing departments. ...
Type of guaranteed insurance contract in which the term is fixed, the rate is fixed, and the contract owner does not participate in the insurance company's earnings. ...
Time at which life insurance death proceeds or endowments are paid, either at the death of an insured or at the end of the endowment period. ...
Method of selling insurance in which the insured purchases the product directly from the insurance company and not through an agent. ...

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