Insurance is defined as form of risk management basically used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. It is also the equitable transfer of a risk or loss, from one entity to another in return for a premium. The insurer is the company that sells the insurance for a premium. The premium is determined by the insurance rate, for a certain amount of risk coverage.

The majority of insurance policies are provided for individual units of large classes. The insurers benefit from the large number of homogenous units they sell as the number of exposure units increases, the actual results are likely to be close to the expected results.

In order to claim the insurance the loss should have taken place at specified time and place, and the cause of the loss should be reasonably evident. Sufficient information should be provided to the insurer so that they objectively verify the time, place and cause of loss. In order to claim the insurance there should be accidental loss, i.e. it should be fortitutious and outside the control of the beneficiary. Events like business risks that contain speculative elements are generally not considered worthy of insurance.

The size of the loss should be sufficiently large and generally above the costs incurred in handling the claim and administering the policy. The premium should be affordable and relative to the amount of protection offered. The loss should be calculable in terms of probability of loss and the attendant cost. For the insurer there should limited risk of catastrophically large losses. In the event where there are losses to numerous policy holders at the same time, then the ability of the insurer to issue policies is restricted.

On purchasing a policy you have to draw up a contract with the insurer. There are two types of insurance contracts; an "indemnity" policy and a "pay on behalf" or "on behalf of" policy. The difference is merely on paper, but not in practice.

The technical definition of "indemnity" is to make whole again. The "indemnity" policy will be paid only when the insured has paid out of his or her pocket to some third party; for example a person visiting your home slips, and injures himself and sues you for $2,000 and wins. Under the "indemnity" policy you have to pay the visitor the $2,000 Then you would be "indemnified" by the insurance carrier for your personal costs.

The life insurance policy provides monetary benefit to the deceased family on the even of the insured persons death. Health insurance policies cover the cost of private medical treatment if any publicly funded program does not pay for them. It allows the insured to take the best and quickest treatment wherever available.

Disability insurance provides financial support to the policy holder during the period when they are unable to work because of disabling illness or injury. Total and permanent disability insurance provides monetary benefits when the person is permanently disabled and can no longer work in their profession.