Summary

In this chapter we discuss principles of premium calculation for insurance policies and annuities. We start by reviewing what we mean by the terms ‘premium’, ‘net premium’ and ‘gross premium’. We next introduce the present value of future loss random variable. We define the equivalence premium principle and we show how this premium principle can be applied to calculate premiums for different types of policy. We look at how we can use the future loss random variable to determine when a contract moves from loss to profit or vice versa. We introduce a different premium principle, the portfolio percentile premium principle, and show how, using the mean and variance of the future loss random variable, the portfolio percentile premium principle can be used to determine a premium. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how a premium can be calculated when the insured life is subject to some extra level of risk.

Preliminaries

An insurance policy is a financial agreement between the insurance company and the policyholder. The insurance company agrees to pay some benefits, for example a sum insured on the death of the policyholder within the term of a term insurance, and the policyholder agrees to pay premiums to the insurance company to secure these benefits. The premiums will also need to reimburse the insurance company for the expenses associated with the policy.