A person responsible for calculating statistical risks, premium levels, and other technical aspects of insurance.

A form of life insurance that allows changes on the policy face amount , the amount of premium, the period of protection, and the length of the premium payment period.

Assets that insurance regulators include when determining an insurer's financial condition. Admitted assets are usually those that have a high degree of liquidity.

An insurance company authorized and licensed to do business in a given state.

The tendency of persons with poorer than average risks to apply for or maintain insurance coverage.

An insurance organization, which is normally unadmitted which establishes to insure its own risks.

To transfer to a reinsurer all or part of the insurance or reinsurance written by the ceding company.

An agreement whereby the insurer and another party share all losses covered by a policy at a set proportion

Premiums collected by an insurer without an allowance for premiums ceded to reinsurers.

Life insurance where the face amount is payable to the insured at the end of the contract or to a beneficiary if the insured dies before the end of the contract.

The amount of cash available to a policyholder upon the voluntary termination of a cash value life insurance policy before it becomes payable by death or maturity.

The use of rating and premium collection techniques by insurance companies to maximize interest earnings on premiums.

An individual acting as an agent for a set of insurers and as a broker in dealing with other insurers.

The present value of total expected excess payments over the life of the contract divided by the present value of total expected assessments over the life of the contract.

The process by which a mutual insurance company converts to a stock insurance company. In the conversion process, the mutual insurer offers policyholders cash or stock in the new company.

Insurance on a debtor in favor of a creditor to pay off the balance due on a loan in the event of the death or disability of the debtor.

The exchange of installment benefits for a lump sum. Under reinsurance treaties, this normally refers to the estimation, payment , and complete discharge of all future obligations for reinsurance losses regardless of the continuing nature of certain losses.

An independent opinion furnished by a rating agency regarding an insurer's ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.

Insurance covering only specified individual risks.

Insurance offered to a special group of people which are part of a lodge or fraternity organization.

The ratio of the number of contracts or policies lapsed during a specified period to the number in force at the beginning of that period.

A policy terminated for non-payment of premiums A lapsed policy is sometimes limited to termination that happens before the policy has accumulated a cash value or other surrender value.

The minimum reserve required to be established for a life insurance contract in according to local law.

A rider attached to life insurance policies that provides long term care benefits or benefits for the terminally ill.

Profits and losses resulting from insurance activities which are calculated on a statutory basis .This is in contrast with profits and losses calculated from realized investments.

Insurance losses divided by the premiums paid.

The difference between the amount of losses initially estimated by an insurer and the amount evaluated at a later date.

An examination by state insurance regulators of the business practices and operations of an insurer and its agents.

A table that shows the incidence of death at certain ages.

Relationship of the frequency of deaths of individual members of a group to the entire group over a particular time period. This is also defined as the death rate resulting from a specific kind of illness or disease.

The interest earned by an insurer on its investments after investment expenses but before income taxes.

An Insurance policy that does not pay policy dividends. Premiums for nonparticipating polcies are usually lower than those for participating policies.

A whole life policy that requires premiums continuously as long as the insured lives. This is also referred to as straight life insurance.

The return of part of the premium paid for a policy issued on a participating basis.

A loan made by a life insurance company from its general funds to a policyholder using the policy's cash value as security.

The excess of assets and liabilities. Surplus determines an insurer's capacity to write business and consists of surplus paid in by stockholders and surplus earned through operations suc has underwriting.

A fee levied on a policyholder when a life insurance policy or annuity is surrendered for its cas hvalue prioerto its maturiry date or contract termination date. Such fees are designed to discourage early retirement of policies and annuity contracts . A surrender charge is typically structured to recover the costs an insurer undertook to write the policy which is known as its policy acquisition costs.

Life insurance payable to a beneficiary only when the insured dies within a specified time period.

A combination flexible premium, adjustable life insurance policy. Universal variable life policies combine universal life insurance with variable life features.

A type of annuity in which the amount of each benefit payment is not guaranteed or specified in the contract. Instead, benefit payments fluctuate depending on the investment results of the assets held in the account.

Reserves established by insurers for certain secondary guarantees associated with policies such as universal life and variable universal life.

A contract providing income at regular intervals for a specified period of time. This time period could be a number of years or the life time of the annuitant. Payouts for an annuity can be immediate or deferred , fixed or variable, or single, multiple, or flexible premiums.

Life insurance that may be kept in force for a person's whole life and pays a benefit upon the person's death.Premiums may be payable for a specified number of years (limited payment life) or for the life (straight life) but mostly to the age of 100.

The sale to a third party of an existing life insurance policy. The seller receives a cash payment from the buyer which generally exceeds the cash surrender value but is less than the net death benefit. The buyer then pays the remaining premiums and receives the death benefit when the insured dies. A viatical settlement is referred to asa life settlement in cases where the insured is older with a life expectancy of two years.

Life insurance that is similar to whole life in that its premiums are fixed. The variable aspects are the death benfit and the cash surrender value.The death benefit is based on the value of assets behind the contract at the time the benefit is paid which is above a guranteed minimum.

An incorporated insurance company stockholders which receives profits in the form of stockholder dividends that elects a board to manage the firm.

An accounting format used by state insurance regulators. Statutory accounting principles is a cash-oriented principle that has such requirements as immediately expensing all costs related to writing business. Statutory accounting focuses on business solvency which is a firm'sability to pay out claims and meet financial obligations.

The amount of capital an insurer needs to meet its obligations to policy holders.State regulatory bodies calculate risk-based capital levels which takes into account various types of risk and compares them with company's actual capital.

An asset account established by an insurer and segregated from other funds . This is used primarily for pension plans and variable life products . This arrangment permits wider latitude in the insurer's investment choices .

THE transaction whereby a reinsurer ceded all or part of the reinsurance it assumed to another reinsurer.

The average investment yield , excluding realized and unrealized gains , on an insurer's general account assets.

An insurance company that has no capital stock.This arrangement is owned by its policyholders which govern the company's operations. Earnigns of the mutual insurance company belong to the policyholders and may be distributed to them in the form of poicvcy dividends or reduced premiums.

The relative incidence of disease . This is often referred to the ratio of incidence of sickness to the number of people in a group over a given time period.

An annuity that provides a fixed payment (usually a fixed rate of interest) that will be paid on the principal deposited I nth annuity.

A representative of the state insurance departmetn assigned assigned to review an insurance company's official audit.

Claim losses that have ocurred durign a stated period of time but have yet been reported to the insurer.

A tax deductivble savings account associated with a high deductible insurance plan that may be usedto pay current and future healthcare costs. Annual contriutions are limited. But unused balances roll over year to year.

An option offerd with some variable annuities that guarantees annuity payments to be at least equal to the sum of all premiums paid regardless of account value.

An option offered with some variable annuities whereby the annuitant is entitled to a particuklar minimum level of annuity payments even if the account value does not support that particular level of payments.

An option offered with some variable life policies that guarantees the death benefit regardless of the cash value of the policy.

A product offered by life insurance companies that guarantees a specified rate of return over the life of the contract .

An investment portfolio used by an insurer for investment of premium income not attributed to policyholder separate accounts.

An item in the balance sheet of an insurance company that represents a setting asside of assets to compensate for possible reduction of business which is the potential maximum clain against an insurer.

A policy that reimburses daily health and social service expenses incurred when the insured is confined to a nursing care facility.

The cost of adjusting losses for filed claims excluding the amount of the loss itself

The percentage of the premium dollar devoted to paying the expenses of the insurer other than losses .

A feature of some life insurance policies that provides for the waiver of premiums iof the policyholder becomes totally and permanently disabled.

Health insurance that provides periodic payments to replace income due to the inability of the insured person to work due to injury or sickness.

The capitalized sales cost associated with acquiring new business which is then expensed (amortized) over the term of the contract or service provided. DAC is a feature of GAAP accou ting but not statutory accounting.