Insurance involves pooling funds

Principles
Insurance involves pooling funds from many insured entities (known as exposures) to pay for the losses that some may incur. The insured entities are therefore protected from risk for a fee, with the fee being dependent upon the frequency and severity of the event occurring. In order to be an insurable risk, the risk insured against must meet certain characteristics. Insurance as a financial intermediary is a commercial enterprise and a major part of the financial services industry, but individual entities can also self-insure through saving money for possible future losses.[18]

Insurability
Main article: Insurability
Risk which can be insured by private companies typically share seven common characteristics:[19]

Large number of similar exposure units: Since insurance operates through pooling resources, the majority of insurance policies cover individual members of large classes, allowing insurers to benefit from the law of large numbers in which predicted losses are similar to the actual losses. Exceptions include Lloyd’s of London, which is famous for ensuring the life or health of actors, sports figures, and other famous individuals. However, all exposures will have particular differences, which may lead to different pre

mium rates.
Definite loss: This type of loss takes place at a known time and place, and from a known cause. The classic example involves the death of an insured person on a life-insurance policy. Fire, automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion. Other types of losses may only be definite in theory. Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure

to injurious conditions where no specific time, place, or cause is identifiable. Ideally, the time, place, and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements.