INTRODUCTION
Modern man tries to protect himself and his possessions against many risks like illness, accidents, death, theft and liabilities. These interests can be protected in various ways:
(a) He can take preventative measures to limit loss such as wearing a safety belt while driving a vehicle or installing smoke detectors in a factory; or
(b) He can save money and with time build up a private fund; or
(c) Co-operate with other legal subjects to collectively cover losses that have been incurred.
However, in the above three scenarios, protective measures are not adequate protection. The solution to these problems is found in a formal insurance. Insurance regulation is a dynamic, ever-evolving to achieve an appropriate balance between providing adequate consumer protection and allowing them to gain maximum returns. Given that insurers and the products being offered change over time, it is vital for the regulatory framework to keep pace with dynamics of the Life Insurance Industry.
This study explores areas where the life insurance industry has changed over time through different product offerings, globalization, evolving technology, and changes in the economic environment of Discovery Vitality Life. The study provides a framework to assist regulators in assessing which changes have been successful, which need improvement, and what needs to be addressed in the future.
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
The South African life insurance industry has become the fastest growing and most dynamic market (nmg Consulting, 2012). Around 1730 BC, Hammurabi issued a proclamation stating that all the merchants who were participants of a caravan had to make a payment towards any damages caused by theft of the property. This type of manual assistanc...
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...des, taking its shape from the various regulatory, legal, technological and social changes of history. As the insurance industry evolved, it became increasingly global, competitive and interconnected. Insurers now compete and operate across many different international jurisdictions, whose regulatory and accounting frameworks differ.
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Nagel, C. J. (2011). Commercial Law 4th Edition. South Africa: LexisNexis.
nmg Consulting. (2012). South Africa Life Insurance. South Africa: nmg Consulting.
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Being a giant in the insurance market in the United States, Aetna, Inc’s target market is widely spread and can’t be simply classified in primary and secondary targets. The company’s target market’s however, can be divided into two general markets with each having different classifications. Aetna’s target markets can be divided into an American market and an international one. Within the American market, Aetna divided itself into subsidiaries each concentrating on a specific target market. Outside of the American market, Aetna created Aetna International to specifically target various non-American markets.
Berk, J., & DeMarzo, P. (2011). Corporate finance: The core, second edition. (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.
For companies like SEL where the risk is associated with the life of employees, it is necessary for the employers to pay insurance premium, as personal coverage of employees is not sufficient in case of any mishappening. If we ignore these payments, it would be unethical, as it is not certain that no accident will happen in future. As SEL’s new contract requires complex effects that may involve higher risk of accidents. If SEL failed to pay future payments and if any accident occurs, SEL would end up with paying higher premium and delay in projects completion. One more concern is that if new clients find out that SEL has no insurance coverage in place, it could have negative impact on SEL’s
Insurance is a subject that not everyone wants to talk about because it’s something that only gets brought up when they have an incident that happens to them or they might just not know enough about it. The insurance business is a huge business, which many people don’t realize that the top richest companies are all insurance companies. It is an interesting industry that not enough people know a whole lot about and through watching the film “Cedar Rapids”, you get some accurate depictions on the inside of the industry through an insurance agent’s and even though it’s not shown, an insurance broker’s point of view. Throughout this film there were some interesting points that many people might not be able to tell, but some are accurate in
offer economic protection against the amount paid by persons 65 and over for hospital and
Another reason strategic monitoring is important is because “there are more laws and regulations that apply to health care and biotechnology, with new ones being issued at an accelerating pace” (Moseley, 2009, p. 255). With the laws and regulations changing so often in health care it is important to monitor the changes so that organizations can implement them in their strategic plan as they occur. According to Al-Abri (2007), health care organizations can have a sustainable competitive advantage today if they maintain the ability to change, adapt, and evolve to the changes occurring in the health care industry. It is important for health care organizations to strategically monitor their strategic planning process because of the fast pace changes going on in the industry.
Insurance is a very important part of modern life and business. In this paper I will discuss the basic concepts of insurance, claims-made and occurrence liability policies, factors for selecting an insurance company and policies, and the difference between workers compensation and liability insurance.
Rousmaniere, Peter. “Facing a tough situation.” Risk & Insurance 17.7 (June 2006): 24-25. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 23 March 2011.
Allstate insurance is the second largest property and casualty insurance company by premiums in the United States. Allstate insurance handles about 12% of the U.S home and auto insurance market. (Allstate, 2014). Many of Allstate’s customers fall under what one could refer to as a traditional selection of insurance for automobiles. Recently, Allstate has noticed a major shortcoming in lifestyle insurance, which includes coverage for motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, in comparison to its competitors. The motorcycle insurance sector is a 10.4 billion dollar industry and growing (PRWEB, 2012). The U.S. Department of Transportation website reports some astounding figures, including that 5,370,035 motorcycles were registered three years before the article, 7,138,476 motorcycles registered at the time of the article, and grew to 9,477,243 registered motorcycles at the end of 2012 (NHTSA, 2013). It is obvious as to why Allstate would identify motorcycle insurance as a worthy lifestyle product to devote marketing research dollars into in order to develop new strategies for cornering a share of the market.
A. C. Pigou, Review of the Fifth Edition of Mashall's Principles of Economics (unimelb.edu.au) The Economic Journal, volume 17, 1907, pp. 532-5
After hours of independently researching the field of Actuarial Science, I contacted Mr. Michael Miller. Mr. Miller is the Director of Insurance Pricing at Catlin Inc., a private insurance company in Atlanta, Georgia. With a Masters of Science in Mathematics and classification as a Fellow of Casualty Actuarial Society, Mr. Miller has thrived in the field of Actuarial Science for twenty years. He has even achieved the position of President of the Casualty Actuarial Society of the Southeast.
The insurance industry needed a vehicle to transfer billions of dollars of catastrophe risk to an entity capable enough to manage it. The only entity able to cope with these large risk...
Block, S. B., & Hirt, G. A. (2005). Foundations of financial management. (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
In an ever changing world of uncertainty, we all should have some sort of insurance to assure us that regardless of the change that comes, our loved ones will be taken care of. As the population increases, we are becoming exposed to multiple faces of danger. The insurance industry has become like that of an ice cube left in the summer sun. The "what ifs" run like water as the ice melts, and we faced with the reality of having to make a decision based on the unknown. A wide range of insurances' are available, but the debate remains focused on, "what is life insurance and do I need it?"
As a result of today’s economic climate and the recent financial market turmoil it has been highlighted that there is a need for people to start to seriously consider their financial risks. What would happen to those families, where the person that was providing the main source of income was to die before they had expected? Recently in Ireland debt levels are at an all time high and the idea of finding and maintaining a job is becoming increasingly harder and harder. As a result of this life insurance is becoming more of a need. We all have insurance in one form or another, be it auto insurance, mortgage protection, medical, liability, disability or life. It is our way of controlling our risks. In order to examine the necessity for life insurance we need to examine the risks that life insurance covers and how well these risks are covered. To do this we need to examine the different forms of life insurance.