Training, Coaching and Mentoring-II - Insurance

Continuing our Topic....Today we will touch upon "Insurance Basics"

Firstly, Who should read this?
If you are a beginner in the Insurance Industry or Insurance related field like IT, Business.
If you are an IT Techie and are working in the Insurance domain for sometime now...this article is for you
If you are someone who has a liking for insurance or are curious about the inner know-hows and basics
or someone who wants to have some valueadd to his knowledge and skills.....go ahead and read

I came to the insurance industry quite by chance. For around 4 years since i graduated i had worked on C++ and Java assignments..all non-Insurance. Then i joined a company which specialized in Property and Casualty Insurance - Policy, Billing and Claims Administration Product development and Installation. I was the solutions architect for the product. I loved what i did there....This job Introduced me to the insurance industry and showed me how product functionality and performance considerations gave us Happy customers...and sometimes poor management and mis-alignment of objectives gives unhapy customers, but let's keep that for another article.....

Coming to Insurance basics,
Why do we need Insurance?
Insurance is a very thriving and an absolutely necessary industry which has borne the shocks of the failing economy. To think of it, be it an bear market or bull, everyone needs insurance, right from buying a home to a car or your personal health and life to insuring smaller electronic gadgets and devices...Insurance is everywhere.

Insurance is a form of risk management and mitigation technique wherein you pay the insurer a "Premium" to accept a portion or all of your associated "risk". And if god forbid, things do go wrong, as they sometimes do, you-The Insured, will file a "claim" and based on the Insurance premium you pay, the "coverages" that you have applicable on your "policy", the insurance company "Adjuster" will work with you and try to work with you on the "Actual Value" or the "Market value" based on the years of "Depreciation" of the Item that you are insured and are claiming for...with the objective of ensuring the "Insured" gets to the "same economic situation" as before. The Objective of Insurance is to cover the loss, so that insured bounces back to the same economic state as before the loss.
This is as elementary as i can get to explain what is insurance to a Layman.

Where did the Insurance concept come from?
Long time ago, when there were to TVs, planes or IPods....when traders and merchants took their goods to faraway places for trading, sometimes they lost the goods to weather conditions, pirates or some other Loss making situations and had to bear a loss. So they came up with rather ingenious ways to "self-Insure" their goods or mitigate their "Risk" or losses.
The Merchants would get together and pool a set amount of money so as to compensate the trader who lost his goods or they would sometimes give extra amount of money to the lenders, from whom they bought goods as a means of insuring against losses in trade.

What are the types of Insurance?
As i said, Insurance is applicable and available in all walks of life...right from Personal to commercial..within that at a very high level, you can dividie insurance into Life, General and Health. Within General you have personal, Commercial. Within that you have Property and Casualty.
The area within Personal and Commercial at a High level would be,
Auto, General Liability, Property, Worker's Comp, Home Owners, Inland Marine, Specialty Lines etc. Each of these, as their names suggest cater to a specific area of Business. There are certain insurance companies that deal with certain specialities or some that do a mix.
There is also another interesting area within Insurance called Re-Insurance wherein, an Insurance Carriers (also called Ceding Company) reinsures part or all of his associated risk with another Company (Reinsurer). The Insurance agreements between them are of various types namely Facultative or Treaty reinsurance etc based on the risk selection criteria etc

What are the industry known and recognized certifications?
Now that you have a basic background and knowledge about insurance, to gain more insight into your particular area of expertise, be it a specific Product like Guidewire, Pega, DuckCreek, Accenture etc related to Policy, Billing and Claims Administration or you aim to become to Business SME for Policy, Billing or Claims...
Make sure you find a right mentor to lead you and guide you in the right direction. Take firm and steady steps towards your career goals and confidently rise the success ladder.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or doubts, i will be glad to help and will try to guide and direct you in the proper direction

Do let me know through your comments if you found the article helpful.