To produce a comprehensive description of both the theory and practice of claims reserving in general insurance. Although there are already a large number of papers and books on this subject, I have always felt that creating a single reference work covering a wide range of reserving topics would be of benefit to those new to the subject and to experienced practitioners, partly to help avoid the reinvention of previously developed approaches that I have seen occur several times during my career (by others and myself). Although most reserving is nowcarried out in bespoke or proprietary reserving software, which will usually have associated user guides and manuals, this book is intended to supplement those sources by covering a variety of reserving topics and techniques, the latter of which may not all be implemented in the relevant software products.

To provide those who wish to advance the more theoretical aspects of reserving with a clear and thorough description of the many practical issues that frequently occur when applying reserving methods in the real world. My hope is that, by doing this, more effective new approaches can be developed in future which make appropriate allowance for these practical issues, which in turn should encourage their wider application. In so doing, this should improve the reliability of reserve estimates and assist with understanding the uncertainty surrounding those estimates.More accurate reserve estimates should lead to fairer insurance/reinsurance premiums and to more reliable financial statements, both of which must be in the public interest.