Insurability

Insurability can mean either whether a particular type of loss (risk) can be insured in theory,[1] or whether a particular client is insurable for by a particular company because of particular circumstance and the quality assigned by an insurance provider pertaining to the risk that a given client would have.[2]

An individual with very low insurability may be said to be uninsurable, and an insurance company will refuse to issue a policy to such an applicant.[3] For example, an individual with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of 6 months would be uninsurable for term life insurance. This is because the probability is so high for the individual to die within the term of the insurance, that he/she would present far too high a liability for the insurance company. A similar, and stereotypical, example would be earthquake insurance in California.

Insurability is sometimes an issue in case law of torts and contracts. It also comes up in issues involving tontines and insurance fraud schemes. In real property law and real estate, insurability of title means the realty is marketable.

  1. ^ Wiening, Eric A. (2002). Foundations of risk management and insurance (1st ed.). Malvern, Pa.: American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters/Insurance Institute of America. p. 6.3. ISBN 9780894631009.
  2. ^ Vivian, R.W.; Darius, W.I. (2000). Risk behaviour and risk management in business life. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 9789048152827.
  3. ^ Jaffee, Dwight M.; Russell, Thomas (June 1997). "Catastrophe Insurance, Capital Markets, and Uninsurable Risks". The Journal of Risk and Insurance. 64 (2): 205. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.420.9092. doi:10.2307/253729. JSTOR 253729.