Sunday, November 29, 2009

What is Reinsurance?

 

reinsurance

Reinsurance is where an Insurer transfer part of a risk to another Insurance company (Reinsurer).

The Reinsurer can also transfer part of their risk to other Reinsurers, this is called Retrocession.

Reasons for Reinsuring:

1] Stability – It stabilizes the insurers losses by smoothening the fluctuations of the losses from each year

2] Capacity – The direct Insurer might not have the underwriting capacity to accept certain risks

3] Catastrophe Protection – Catastrophes can lead to massive claims, Reinsurance can cushion the effects of such events

Methods of Reinsuring:

1] Facultative – Customizable, time-consuming and costly

2] Treaty – Not customizable, Reinsurers are bound to accept risks without prior knowledge, less cumbersome and less costly

Types of Reinsurance:

1] Proportional – The amount of risks & premiums retained are shared in the same proportion by the Insurer & Reinsurer

2] Non-proportional – Reinsurer automatically accepts liability for all losses in excess of an agreed amount

No comments:

Post a Comment