What Is Exposure In Insurance? 4 Important Types Of Exposure!

Do you wonder what is exposure in insurance? Simply put, exposure is the inclination to risk of an individual in their everyday lives. If the insurance company is about to write a policy that will cover an insured, it will look into the extent of exposure that it will be opening to.

In other words, the company is looking at the amount of risk that comes with the insured’s trade or business. For instance, the more often a person is driving his car, the higher is his exposure to an accident. The exposure is used by insurance companies in measuring the risks of writing particular policies. It is also helpful in determining the number of premiums. Scroll down for more information.

what is exposure in insurance

 

4 Types Of Exposure

Insurance providers are using exposure in determining the rates for every business. This basic unit of measurement can be used in different ways. We will discuss each of them below. A brief explanation, exposure describes the susceptibility of an asset or client to loss. And that loss is the reason why people avail insurance. Regardless, keep on reading to understand what is exposure in insurance.

 

#1. Written exposure

This one pertains to the complete exposure associated with the issued policies during the term of a policy. The higher the written exposure, the worse it is for the insurer since they will most likely pay for the claims. This is likewise not good for the insured since it will affect their rates.

 

#2. Earned exposure

When we say an earned exposure, it is only a portion of a written exposure wherein the coverage already occurred at some point. In other words, it is the actual level of exposure that the insured is exposed to. This helps insurance companies in keeping track of the liability after the issuance of a policy.

 

#3. Unearned exposure

As mentioned, earned exposure refers to the amount of exposure insured item over time. And unearned exposure is obviously the opposite of the previous one. It is the written exposure portion that hasn’t occurred yet.

 

#4. In-force exposure

This type of exposure is the number of units exposed to a loss at a particular point in time. The insurance companies are calculating this exposure to assess the total risk. Thus, it can help determine whether an insurance company with their insurance services has taken too much risk. Likewise, it will tell them if they can take more.

 

Insurance Exposure Unit

What is an insurance exposure unit?  Companies use insurance exposure units to calculate a pay holder’s pay to acquire premium service. Essentially, the exposure units measure the extent of potential on the insurer’s part for the coverage.

What will be included in the exposure unit will depend on the type of insurance sold. Therefore, it varies across the different types of insurance. For instance, liability coverage of a store will have an exposure unit that can be expressed in the number of its customers. The insurers can choose the appropriate unit that suits them.

 

Exposure Rating

There is treaty reinsurance that an insurance agency acquires from another. The ceding company and the reinsurer should draw contact to signify that they are willing to accept those risks that will come with the policies. As they are developing the price for the reinsurance treaty, the reinsurer should estimate the probability that the loss will be greater than the amount of damage retained by the ceding insurance company.

In some instances, a reinsurer might execute a reinsurance treaty with an excess of loss. Meaning to say, the reinsurer is agreeing to shoulder the losses even if it is greater than the particular amount that the cedent has retained. The treaties with an excess if a loss might help cut off the reinsurer’s damages.

Either way, any of the two reinsurance treaties require estimating the severity and frequency of the claims. This will create a comprehensive risk profile which they can use as a reference when determining the treaty price. The insurance companies should closely monitor the losses and claims that come with the policies they underwrite.

This is to determine if the policyholders are less or more prone to claims since it will also tell whether or not it is riskier to insure them. The exposure rating helps the reinsurer in determining the risk and reward. Usually, they are using this if the historical data is not enough in developing an experience rating.

 

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions that you might also be curious of:

 

#1. What is risk exposure insurance?

This is the measure of the potential loss that can result from a particular event or activity. For instance, if something goes wrong, the risks will result in losses like liability issues, security breaches, compliance failures, and brand image.

 

#2. How is insurance exposure measured?

To calculate risk, the impact of loos and its probability or frequency to occur is multiplied. Thus, if the impact is high, but its frequency is low, it will just have the same level of risk with an occurrence with low impact but takes place frequently.

 

#3. What is exposure in auto insurance?

The probability that an accident or any other losses will occur is referred to as exposure. Insurance companies measured this to determine the premiums and decide if they will offer auto insurance or not. The more frequent you drive, the higher the exposure to accidents.

 

It’s A Wrap!

It is important both for insurers and policyholders to know what exposure is in insurance since this can affect the policy to be taken and the amount of premium. Now that you know what exposure is insurance, you might want to learn how much a small fridge costs if you have time. That is all.