Insurable risk

An insurable risk is a risk that meets the ideal criteria for efficient insurance. The concept of insurable risk underlies nearly all insurance decisions.

For a risk to be insurable, several things need to be true:

Insurance is not effective for risks that are not insurable risks. For example, risks that are too large cannot be insured, or the premiums would be so high as to make purchasing the insurance infeasible. Also, risks that are not measurable, if insured, will be difficult if not impossible for the insurer to quantify, and thus they cannot charge the correct premium. They will need to charge a conservatively high premium in order to mitigate the risk of paying too large a claim. The premium will thus be higher than ideal, and inefficient. Passing of risk involves both party to the contract. The general rule is that unless otherwise agreed, risk passes with title. An agreement to the contrary may be either expressed or implied.