3 Unconventional Ways Business Insurance Companies Make Money

Here's How Business Insurance Companies Actually Make Money

August 24, 20202153 views0

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Have you been thinking of starting an insurance firm in the future and you are wondering how business insurance companies in the U.S. actually make money notwithstanding all the risks they have to manage?

In this article, you will understand how insurance works in the United States, how much underwriters are paid, and how business insurance companies make their money. We have simplified the process so that you won’t have to face all the major challenges other existing insurance firms are struggling with.

How Insurance Works in the United States

Insurance in the United States is considered a slow-growing, safe industry. So, if you have intentions to start your own business insurance company in the US, then this is a green light for you. The United States insurance industry is made of companies providing support to individuals, small businesses, firms, and organizations faced with risks and unfavorable circumstances.

By offering insurance contracts or what is commonly known as insurance policies or coverage, insurance companies protect and offer risk management to the citizens of the United States of America.

The framework of the insurance industry in the US is made up of the insurance provider also called the insurer who guarantees a certain amount to be paid when a particular kind of peril takes place. The insurer is expected to make payment when the risks covered by the insurance provided happens.

On the other hand, we have the insurance policyholder or the insured. The insurance policyholder is the one who benefits from the services of the insurance provider. The policyholder is required to pay smaller amounts of premium which are called deductibles.

Until the policyholder pays up the agreed deductibles, the insurance policy provider is not mandated to pay any fee to the policyholder.

For instance, an online store owner meets an insurance company to acquire cyber liability insurance and the amount agreed by both parties as the premium to be paid by the online store owner is $5,000. A cyber liability insurance policy covers any financial loss resulting from a data breach or cyber attack.

If this online store owner has paid only $3,400 in deductibles to the insurance company and then suffers a cyber breach, he or she is not liable to get any form of compensation from the insurance company. The online store owner is only entitled to compensation and insurance coverage when he or she has paid the $5,000 of deductibles agreed upon before acquiring the cyber liability insurance.

This is why it is important that before you get a business insurance policy for your small business or any other form of insurance cover consider how affordable the insurance quote is.

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You would not want to incur debts while acquiring a business insurance cover. Compare as many business insurance quotes as you can, contact an insurance broker to help you sort through them, and pick an insurance policy that meets your business needs and is affordable.

Types of Insurance Companies in the US

Insurance companies in the US are categorized as stock insurance companies having outside investors and mutual insurance companies where the insurance policyholders own the companies. Broadly, the following are types of insurance companies in the US:

∙ Life insurance

∙ Accident and health insurance

∙ Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance

∙ Errors and omissions insurance also known as professional indemnity insurance

∙ Reinsurance

∙ Auto insurance

∙ Homeowners insurance

∙ Business insurance

∙ Cyber liability insurance

∙ Pet insurance

∙ Car insurance

∙ Product liability insurance

In the insurance industry, a concept called float is adopted. Float is when a party gives another money and does not expect a refund until a circumstantial event takes place. The job of insurance companies is similar to banks only that the insurance companies are expected to pay the insured the money stored when unforeseen events take place.

Another important key player in the framework of the insurance industry is the underwriter. An insurance underwriter’s task is to help establish the real market price of risk by deciding on a case-by-case basis which risks they are willing to cover and how they should charge for each insurance policy provided in order to make a profit. As part of their job description, underwriters help to fish out people trying to get insurance covers in an unacceptable manner.

Unacceptable insurance seekers include people who have a poor health in need of life insurance, unemployed people seeking expensive mortgages e.t.c. It is the duty of the underwriter to detect such scenarios and in some cases reject such coverage requests. It is the chief function of the insurance underwriter to create a fair and stable market for transactions.

How Insurance Underwriters Make Money

The underwriter is saddled with the responsibility of assessing and evaluating the risks a business is susceptible to which will determine whether to provide an insurance cover for it. An insurance underwriter makes money from the spread between the price that the underwriter acquires stock from the insurance provider and the price the underwriter sells the stock to intending policyholders.

An underwriter purchases a company’s initial policy opening (IPO)and resells it to the general public or anyone interested in becoming a policyholder. The underwriter earns from the difference between what he or she buys the IPO and the price he or she sells it.

Now to the major focus of this article, which is, how business insurance companies make money.

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3 Ways Business Insurance Companies Make Money in the United States

The risk-based revenue system of the insurance industry is one very profitable system. Let’s examine the three ways business insurance companies make money in the United States of America.

1. Underwriting

The job description of an insurance underwriter — Source: TheBalance

Business insurance companies engage the art of underwriting to make money. Their revenue comes from the difference between money collected on insurance policy premiums and money paid out on claims to their prospective policyholders.

Suppose a business insurance company earned a total of $10 million paid by insurance policy providers for having insurance covers in a year. Let’s assume that this business insurance company paid $7.5 million in claims that same year. The revenue of that insurance company would be, premiums earned minus claims paid, that would be $10 million minus $7.5 million dollars which is equal to $2.5 million.

Therefore, the revenue of that business insurance provider for that year is $2.5 million. Insurance companies pay apt attention to this financial math and they understand how to keep this revenue coming while providing insurance covers.

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2. Investments

Another means through which insurance companies make money is by investments. When an insurance policyholder pays premiums to the insurance provider, the insurance provider invests the money paid in financial markets to get higher returns.

3. Unpaid Coverage

There is a tendency that the insurance policy may elapse without the policyholder suffering from any event hence receiving no claim. This tendency is what insurance experts refer to as policy lapse. In the case of a policy lapse, the insurance company keeps all the previous premiums with no possibility of a claim being paid.

Now you have it. The insurance market is really a perfect market to throw your money into. There is a great chance of making money from this slow-growing yet safe industry. Little wonder why Warren Buffet bought GEICO Insurance and began his own insurance company, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group.

You can become a business insurance policy provider and make money selling insurance policies and quotes. Use the ways business insurance companies make money in the United States and start making money.