Insurance

Insurance is a guarantee of the financing of future value exchange (i.e. in the form of payment for services rendered, such as visiting a medical practitioner) in exchange for up-front payment for the guarantee (for example a monthly payment, payment at regular intervals every year such as every quarter, or payment at the beginning of each year for an entire calendar year's guarantee).

Types of Insurance

The primary types of Insurance include:

1. Travel Insurance - coverage for those who travel abroad, for certain losses such as medical expenses, loss of personal belongings, travel delay, and/or other personal liabilities
2. Health Insurance - the insuring of one individual (or a family) and their own
3. Life Insurance - provides a monetary benefit to a decedent's family or other designated beneficiary, and may specifically provide for income to an insured person's family, burial, funeral and other final expenses
4. Long-term disability insurance - covers an individual's expenses for the long term, up until such time as they are considered permanently disabled and thereafter
5. Liability Insurance - indemnity from being responsible for the death or ijury of an individual or group due to your service (i.e. coaching/instruction) or facility (i.e. building or equipment failure)
6. Prize indemnity insurance - in case a valuable prize is given away at an event
7. Social Insurance - Government backed coverage in the event of the loss of employment income (also called "Social Security" in the US, "Unemployment Insurance" or "Employment Insurance"-EI in Canada)
8. Crop insurance - coverage for farmers to reduce or manage various risks associated with growing crops (i.e. crop loss or damage caused by weather, hail, drought, frost damage, insects, or disease)
9. Workers Compensation insurance - replaces all or part of a worker's wages lost and accompanying medical expenses incurred because of a job-related injury
10. Auto Insurance - protects the policyholder against financial loss in the event of an incident involving a vehicle they own, such as in a traffic collision
11. Property Isurance - provides protection against risks to property, such as fire, theft or weather damage
12. Home Insurance - provides coverage for damage or destruction of the policyholder's home but does not usually include Maintenance-related issues or Home Improvements which are almost always the homeowner's responsibility (in some geographical areas, the policy may exclude certain types of risks, such as flood or earthquake under the guise of "acts of god", that require additional coverage or may not even be possible to be covered against)
13. Title Insurance - provides a guarantee that title to real property is vested in the purchaser and/or mortgagee, free and clear of liens or encumbrances
14. Landlord Insurance - coverage for a landlord against damage by a renter
15. Mortgage Insurance - insures a lender against default by a borrower
16. Estate Insurance - coverage for all of one's tangible assets (i.e the estate) after death and/or for your executor (of your "last will and testament"), estate trustee, or estate administrator clients; covering them for personal liability and defense costs should they face litigation regarding decisions they make in the course of administering the estate, which concurrently exposes the estate to potential legal expense
17. Investment Insurance - Guaranteed Investment Funds (GIFs) are the prime example of coverage for one's intangible assets
18. Trade Credit Insurance - business insurance on the accounts receivable of the insured
19. Payment Protection Plan - typically on a credit card or charge card, in case payments can not be made (i.e. due to loss of employment, disability/injury, illness, etc)
20. Gambling Insurance - protection in the event of loss during legal gambling recreational activities (i.e. in Blackjack, a casino offers coverage in case they have an automatic winning hand)

Resources

• Your Chances of Death by Activity: http://www.besthealthdegrees.com/health-risks/ (INFOGRAPHIC)
• Grab & AXA launch first usage-based insurance for private hire car drivers: https://www.grab.com/sg/grab-axa/

Tutorials

• How Much Money Do Insurance Companies Make? A Primer: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/how-much-money-do-insurance-companies-make-a-primer/
• How Insurance Companies Make Money - Wisdom From Warren Buffett: http://funeralhomeconsulting.org/best-practices/customer-engagement/preneed/how-insurance-companies-make-money-wisdom-from-warren-buffett/
• How Life Insurance Works: http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/life-insurance.htm
• How does insurance work?: http://www.cooperators.ca/en/Answer-Centre/how-does-insurance-work.aspx
• 10 Ways Insurance Agents Spot Fraudulent Claims: http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/auto-insurance/10-ways-insurance-adjusters-spot-fraudulent-claims.htm

External Links

• wikipedia: Insurance
• wikipedia: List of insurance topics
• wikipedia: Insurance law
• wikipedia: Insurance fraud
• wikipedia: Line of business
• wikipedia: Float (money supply)
• wikipedia: Uberrima fides
• wikipedia: Force majeure
• wikipedia: Act of God
• wikipedia: Lawsuits against God
• wikipedia: Lawsuits against the Devil
• wikipedia: Porter five forces analysis
• wikipedia: Rent-seeking
• wikipedia: Social security
• wikipedia: Universal health care
• Premera Blue Cross hit by "sophisticated" hack, 11M affected: http://www.zdnet.com/article/premera-blue-cross-hit-by-sophisticated-cyberattack-11m-affected
• 5 ways to leverage Telematics for (Auto/Vehicle) Insurance Companies: http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/blog/5-ways-leverage-telematics-insurance
• Auto insurers' interest in N.B. credit scores is bad news for many: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/auto-insurers-credit-scores-new-brunswick-1.6172978

See Also

Health | Business | Legal | Big Data | Security