Risk Assessment

To help individuals and businesses manage risk, providers of insurance must have ways of determining what kinds and degrees of risk different people and businesses face. To do this, insurers rely on the basic principle of grouping together similar risks. By examining the risks faced by a variety of individuals and businesses, insurers can establish common risk profiles (patterns of characteristics). With this information, an insurer can quickly determine what kind of insurance to offer someone applying for a policy, and how much it will cost to insure that person’s risks.

Every insurer employs underwriters to assess the insurance risk posed by applicants for insurance, and to group applicants into classes based on similar risk profiles. For example, companies that insure cars and their drivers categorize teenage drivers as a class separate from older drivers. Studies have shown that teenagers have many times more crashes than other age groups.

Individuals or businesses whose profiles indicate a statistically average class of risk or lower can usually easily qualify for insurance at reasonable prices. Those whose profiles indicate higher than average risk must pay higher prices for insurance, or they may have a difficult time getting insured at all. When applicants present too much risk, all insurance companies may decline to insure them.