Companies that provide coverage on assets and liability insurance for accidents, injuries, and damage to other people or their belongings
What are Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurers?
Property and casualty (P&C) insurers are companies that provide coverage on assets (e.g., house, car, etc.) and also liability insurance for accidents, injuries, and damage to other people or their belongings.
Summary
- Property and casualty (P&C) insurers are companies that provide coverage on assets, as well as liability insurance for accidents, injuries, and damage to others or their belongings.
- P&C insurers cover a number of things, including auto insurance, home insurance, marine insurance, and professional liability insurance.
- Customers pay P&C insurers an insurance premium for their desired coverage.
Coverage for Property and Casualty Insurers
Outlined in the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, property and casualty insurers focus on risks that result in losses to property and possessions. Examples include:
- Auto insurance: Covering losses to individuals and properties arising from auto accidents and other unforeseen auto events.
- Home insurance: Covering losses to residences and property arising from extreme weather, fire, theft, or other incidents. In addition, covering liability to third parties from actions by the insured.
- Marine insurance: Covering losses to shipping vehicles.
- Professional liability insurance: Covering losses to professional clients arising from negligence.
Scenarios That Property and Casualty Insurers Cover
The following are several scenarios in which property and casualty insurance provide coverage:
1. A visitor fractures their leg on your property due to your negligence
Josh, an insured individual, forgets to shovel his front yard after a snowy day and causes a stranger to fall and fracture their leg. The property and casualty insurer can help John cover the medical costs related to the stranger, as well as damages for pain and suffering.
2. Property is vandalized and damaged
Tim, an insured individual, comes home to find his property vandalized. The property and casualty insurer can help Tim cover the cost related to repairing the damage done to the property.
3. Property is damaged from extreme weather
Dan, an insured individual, lives in Florida, and his property was damaged due to a hurricane recently. The property and casualty insurer can help Dan cover the costs related to damage to the property.
How Does Property and Casualty Insurance Work?
Property and casualty insurers offer insurance to customers for risks, up to a certain coverage amount, in exchange for insurance premiums. Insurance premiums are cash outflows made by the customer in exchange for insurance coverage.
Similar to other insurers, when property and casualty insurers offer coverage to a customer, they must determine an insurance premium the customer will pay by looking at the riskiness of the customer. An insurer would commonly look at the likelihood of the customer making a claim and the potential amount of the claim when calculating the amount of insurance premium they should charge. A diagram is provided below to outline the process:
More Resources
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FAQs
1. State Farm. State Farm is the industry's biggest player, both in the US and overseas. The Bloomington, Illinois-based P&C insurance giant wrote almost $78 billion worth of premiums in the past year.
Is the Texas property and casualty exam hard? ›
Whether you're going for your Property and Casualty license in Texas or your Life and Health insurance license in Texas, the exams are challenging. Put yourself on a strict schedule as you do your exam prep work.
Is property casualty insurers a good career path? ›
The job outlook for insurance agents is very good, with 6% growth expected between 2021 and 2031. The median pay for an insurance sales agent is around $24 an hour or $50,000 a year, but many people make more than this. There is plenty of money-making potential, especially for more experienced P&C agents.
How hard is the PA property and casualty exam? ›
The P&C exam is full of tricky concepts and information that are not common knowledge. Plan to dedicate 35-40 hours of time to learn the material. Give yourself 1-2 weeks to study, minimum. Use the practice exams and quizzes: Your pre-licensing course will include practice exams and mock tests.
What is the #1 insurance in America? ›
Currently, the largest car insurance company in America is State Farm. Major auto insurance companies offer financial stability and a variety of coverage plans. To find cheap car insurance rates, you'll need to compare quotes from various providers.
How do P&C insurers make money? ›
Insurance companies earn a profit by charging their customer premiums for buying insurance policies. However, insurers also earn income by investing the premiums received in various products, including U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds.
Is P&C insurance growing? ›
We forecast P&C direct premiums written (DPW) growth of 8.0% in 2024 and 5.0% in 2025, after a close-to 10% annual gain between 2021 and 2023. Both personal auto and homeowners' premiums grew by more than 13% in 2023, driving overall industry growth of 9.3% (see Table 1).
What is the hardest insurance exam to pass? ›
Each insurance licensing exam presents its own challenge. Between Life and Health, students say that the Health insurance exam is the more difficult. Health insurance policies are simply more complicated than life insurance policies. The Property insurance exam is easier than the Casualty insurance exam.
What are the basics of P&C? ›
Property and casualty (P&C) insurers are companies that provide coverage on assets, as well as liability insurance for accidents, injuries, and damage to others or their belongings. P&C insurers cover a number of things, including auto insurance, home insurance, marine insurance, and professional liability insurance.
How much is a PA property and casualty license? ›
In Pennsylvania, you must apply online via Sircon or the NIPR. The application fee is $55 and the transaction fee is $5.60 (both Sircon and the NIPR). The Pennsylvania Insurance Department will issue a P&C insurance license to individuals who are at least 18 years old and have passed the proper licensing exam.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. is the largest global property and casualty insurer with $77.59 billion of direct premiums written, according to a new ranking by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Who is the largest insurer in the United States? ›
State Farm is the biggest property and casualty insurance company in the U.S. It has more than $70 billion in total property and casualty business per year. That's nearly $19 billion more than Berkshire Hathaway, which owns Geico. And it's nearly $22 billion more than Progressive.
Who is the largest home insurance company in the US? ›
State Farm is the largest home insurance company in the country and offers policies in all 50 states. According to J.D. Power's overall customer satisfaction study, State Farm is “better than most” when it comes to overall customer satisfaction.
