How Does Insurance Companies Make Money 2023

Profit is one of the aims of any business, no matter how much value they offer or what they represent.

Insurance companies are not an exception to that. The question of how insurance companies make money is what I will be answering in this article. 

Several people have pondered and pinned on this; if they make money or not. Why won’t a business earn profit? Why won’t an insurance company have a favorable way of generating profits?

How Do Insurance Companies Make Money in 2023

• 1. Underwriting Profits

This is just like gross profit. The deduction of the premium(money paid by the insured) from the claims against the insurer.  It is the difference in the amount of money gotten from different people as premiums, and the payouts of claims and expenses. 

The insurance company makes money after this calculation. Just like in business or sales, profit is determined after the total number of goods bought are calculated with the expenses made, whatever is left becomes the profit. 

The money the insurance company (insurer) makes after deducting the expenses they made and the amount of payouts on claims of the insured is their underwriting income it can also be called Net  

This is most times where the adoption of expert risk calculation comes in. Indeed, not everyone who applies for an insurance package claims it, no wonder insurance is like a pool of money, insurance companies help the pool get to the right people. 

The underwriting profits are obtained when the risk and payouts are less which also happens in most cases. 

• 2. Investment Income

 This is the profit made from paid premiums to accrue interest. 

When an Insurance customer pays their monthly premium, the insurance company collects the money and invests it in different sectors, and financial markets to increase their revenues. Insurance companies have diverse means of investment. It varies from high to low risk, high return equity markets, assets, Treasury bills, bonds, private equity, real estate, etc. 

Hence they are not like banks each deposited money requires interest, they can invest the money until a claim is placed. Most times they only use the profits from investments for payouts. However, every business has operations, expenses, etc, and a profit can only be determined after all the income and expenses have been calculated. 

What Is Insurance? 

It is an arrangement or package, whereby a company guarantees to provide compensation for illness, accident, loss, damage, death of an individual or entity, etc. In return for a specified premium,  paid by the insured. 

Insurance Terms 

• The company that insures, i.e the insurance company is called the Insurer. 
• The customer or client is called the Insured 
• Premium is the amount to be paid for a contract of insurance.
• A claim is a formal request by a policyholder to an insurance company for coverage or compensation for a covered loss, damage, etc.
• The policyholder is the person in whose name the insurance contract is written, also known as the insured. 

How Does Insurance Work

Understanding the business model and how insurance companies work will give you a background insight into how they make their profits. The risk is that there won’t be peril, death, damage, or loss, and expect the insurer to payout. 

This requires expert risk assessment, sophisticated algorithms,s and proper use of statistical tools, this helps them calculate the risk and know the level of profit they can make. The experts ascertain the likelihood of a risk and perils, the costs associated with the event of a loss, damage, death, etc., or claim, and then, have to create projections and guidelines based on this scrutiny and information. 

If the data tells them the risk is too high, an insurer either doesn’t offer the policy or will charge the customer more for offering insurance protection.

For instance, when a healthy person or a younger person who is likely not going to be in the hospital for the whole year because of ill health applies for health insurance the risk is comfortably low, and the insurer can charge a comfortably less premium. But, when a smoker or an old person applies, the risk is high and the insurer can reject or accept but with a higher charge of premium. 

Now, with the above example, it simply means that not all insured, apply for a claim, and not all claims are paid, it has to be validated first before payout. for every 100 insurance customers paying their premiums every year, only three to five of the insured claim according to industry data. 

Conclusion 

To sum it all up, insurance companies make money from two sources: Premiums collected from their customers( Underwriting Income) and earnings from investing a small portion of those premiums(the investment income). Hence, while it’s true that insurance companies often make profits from insurance, they have to prepare for the worst and they never know when that will happen. 

Related: 

• Types of Risks in Insurance
• HOW TO SELL INSURANCE OVER THE PHONE – Top 10 Tips
• How To Sell Health Insurance From Home Or AnyWhere – 15 Tips
• Top 20 Insurance Selling Strategies That Will Earn You Six Figures

Tag: How Do Insurance Companies Make Money