– Improving consumer and worker safety: Insurance makes businesses and individuals more aware of the risks they face and provides motivation to prevent losses. For example, insurers provide premium discounts to safe drivers and to businesses that implement effective worker safety programs.
– Protecting consumer transactions: Most consumers have to borrow money to buy homes and cars; lenders require insurance in order to secure the loans they make for these purchases. Without insurance, few people could obtain an auto loan or home mortgage.
– Protecting business transactions: Without insurance, most businesses would find that they could not operate, Insurance enables businesses of all sizes and types to manage the risks that are an inherent part of any business operation (e.g., signing contracts, financing and expanding operations, manufacturing and distributing products, providing services, hiring employees).
_ providing recovery from catastrophes: Hurricanes winter storms, fires and other disasters can cause tremendous sudden loss to many people all at once. Insurance coverage enables businesses to replace inventories and rebuild buildings, and allows homeowners to repair and rebuild homes and replace property.
-Providing trillions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year:
-The property-casualty insurance industry pays out more than $300 billion annually in policy benefits.
-Property-casualty insurers doing business in the United States have more than $1 trillion invested in the economy, through stock, corporate and government bonds, and real estate mortgages. These investments finance building construction and provide other crucial support to economic development projects all across the country.
-Property-casualty insurers are a major source of capital for state and local government in the United States. Insurers held a total of over $266.4 billion in state municipal bonds in 2004. This represents approximately 16 percent of the current out standing state and local government debt. Insurers invest in a variety of public projects, such as airport, hospital, and highway construction. Insurers also purchase general obligation bonds used to finance ongoing government operations.
-There are approximately 3, 000 companies providing property-casualty insurance coverage in the United States.
About 100 of these companies provide the majority of the property-casualty coverage.
-About 1.3 million people are employed by the property-casualty industry, including insurance companies, agencies, and brokerages.
TWO FUNCTIONS OF PROPERTY – CASULTY INSURANCE
Preventing Losses.
Property Casualty Insurance is about preventing losses (injuries, deaths, and/or property damage) from occurring in the first place, through their everyday business practices, insurers are dedicated to reducing injuries, death, and property damage, in this way the interest of insurers, their customers, and the general public are exactly in line.
Business & Home Safety.
Individual homes and commercial building are made safe through the work of the institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) IBHS was established by the Insurance Industry to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other property losses by conducting research and advocating improved construction, maintenance, and preparation practices.
AIA Advocate