Understanding the Insurance Industry: From Regulations to Operations

Description

Insurance is regulated at the state level, but this has not always been the case. Philosophical differences regarding antitrust and regulation in general have altered the course of insurance regulation twice in just the last 80 years.

Within this heavily regulated industry, three distinct types or “styles” of insurance exist in the modern economy: 1) Private; 2) Social; and 3) Public Guarantee insurance. Other than most “public guarantee” schemes, insurance carriers provide the majority of insurance products consumed in the US.

Insurance carriers juggle five main functions and, to varying degrees, three minor functions.  Major functions include: ratemaking; new business production; underwriting; loss adjustment; and investing. Minor carrier functions include engineering and loss control; legal counsel; and accounting.

This is a most important class if you desire to fully understand the insurance mechanism. In this class participants learn:

• The purpose of and need for insurance regulation;
• The regulatory past and present of insurance;
• The types of insurance products;
• The functions within an insurance carrier;
• The non-regulatory “authorities” insurance carriers depend upon to do their job; and
• The needs met by various insurance industry trade associations.