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Insurance in the United States refers to the market for risk in the United States, the world's largest insurance market by premium volume.[1] According to Swiss Re, of the $6.782 trillion of global direct premiums written worldwide in 2022, $2.959 trillion (43.6%) were written in the United States.[1]
Insurance, generally, is a contract in which the insurer agrees to compensate or indemnify another party (the insured, the policyholder or a beneficiary) for specified loss or damage to a specified thing (e.g., an item, property or life) from certain perils or risks in exchange for a fee (the insurance premium).[2] For example, a property insurance company may agree to bear the risk that a particular piece of property (e.g., a car or a house) may suffer a specific type or types of damage or loss during a certain period of time in exchange for a fee from the policyholder who would otherwise be responsible for that damage or loss. That agreement takes the form of an insurance policy.[3]
Insurance provides indemnification against loss or liability from specified events and circumstances that may occur or be discovered during a specified period.
—FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 113, "Accounting for Reinsurance of Short-Duration and Long-Duration Contracts" December 1992
- ^ a b Federal Insurance Office (September 2023). Annual Report on the Insurance Industry (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Treasury. pp. 67–68.
- ^ Black's Law Dictionary; Sixth Edition; Insurance; p. 802.
- ^ "Insurance: Defined". Insurance Regulatory Law. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.