Ratemaking

Abstract The goal of the ratemaking process is the establishment of actuarially sound rates for property and casualty insurance, or other risk transfer mechanisms. Because ratemaking generally requires that rates be established prior to the inception of the insurance, a rate is ‘an estimate of the expected value of future costs’. Such rates are actuarially sound if they provide for all of the expected costs of the risk transfer and appropriately reflect identified individual risk characteristics. Many state rating laws in the United States require that insurance rates be ‘not inadequate, excessive or unfairly discriminatory’. If a rate is actuarially sound, it is deemed to meet these regulatory requirements without regard to the extent to which the actuarial expectations are consistent with the actual developed experience. This article will introduce and discuss the basic elements of property and casualty actuarial ratemaking. The examples and illustrations have been substantially simplified, and it should be noted that the methods presented herein are but a few of the methods available and may not be appropriate for specific actuarial applications.