Principles of Takaful

The principles of Takaful are as follows:

• Policyholders cooperate among themselves for their common good.
• Every policyholder pays his subscription to help those that need assistance.
• Losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system.
• Uncertainty is eliminated in respect of subscription and compensation.
• It does not derive advantage at the cost of others.

Theoretically, Takaful is perceived as cooperative insurance, where members contribute a certain sum of money to a common pool.

The purpose of this system is not profits but to uphold the principle of "bear ye one another's burden."

Commercial insurance is strictly not allowed for Muslims as agreed upon by most contemporary scholars because it contains the following elements:

1. Al-Gharar (Uncertainty)
2. Al-Maisir (Gambling)
3. Riba (Interest)

There are three (3) models and several variations on how takaful can be implemented.

1. Mudharabah Model
2. Wakalah Model
3. Combination of both

Islamic Insurance

Takaful ( التكافل) is an Islamic insurance concept which is grounded in Islamic muamalat (banking transactions), observing the rules and regulations of Islamic law.

This concept has been practised in various forms for over 1400 years.

Muslim jurists acknowledge that the basis of shared responsibility in the system of aquila as practised between Muslims of Mecca and Medina laid the foundation of mutual insurance.

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A book by Dr Aly Khorshid "Islamic insurance, with modern approach to Islamic Banking" Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should help its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance. Aly Khorshid demonstrates how initial clerical apprehensions were overcome to create pioneering Muslim-friendly banking systems, and applies the lessons learnt to a workable insurance framework by which Muslims can compete with non-Muslims in business and have cover in daily life. The book uses relevant Quranic and Sunnah extracts, and the arguments of pro- and anti-insurance jurists to arrive at its conclusion that Muslims can enjoy the peace of mind and equity of an Islamic insurance scheme.
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Indemnification

The technical definition of "indemnity" means to make whole again. There are two types of insurance contracts;

1. an "indemnity" policy and
2. a "pay on behalf" or "on behalf of" policy.

The difference is significant on paper, but rarely material in practice.

An "indemnity" policy will never pay claims until the insured has paid out of pocket to some third party; for example, a visitor to your home slips on a floor that you left wet and sues you for $10,000 and wins. Under an "indemnity" policy the homeowner would have to come up with the $10,000 to pay for the visitor's fall and then would be "indemnified" by the insurance carrier for the out of pocket costs (the $10,000).

Under the same situation, a "pay on behalf" policy, the insurance carrier would pay the claim and the insured (the homeowner) would not be out of pocket for anything. Most modern liability insurance is written on the basis of "pay on behalf" language.

An entity seeking to transfer risk (an individual, corporation, or association of any type, etc.) becomes the 'insured' party once risk is assumed by an 'insurer', the insuring party, by means of a contract, called an insurance 'policy'. Generally, an insurance contract includes, at a minimum, the following elements: the parties (the insurer, the insured, the beneficiaries), the premium, the period of coverage, the particular loss event covered, the amount of coverage (i.e., the amount to be paid to the insured or beneficiary in the event of a loss), and exclusions (events not covered). An insured is thus said to be "indemnified" against the loss covered in the policy.

When insured parties experience a loss for a specified peril, the coverage entitles the policyholder to make a 'claim' against the insurer for the covered amount of loss as specified by the policy. The fee paid by the insured to the insurer for assuming the risk is called the 'premium'. Insurance premiums from many insureds are used to fund accounts reserved for later payment of claims—in theory for a relatively few claimants—and for overhead costs. So long as an insurer maintains adequate funds set aside for anticipated losses (i.e., reserves), the remaining margin is an insurer's profit.

Principles Of Insurance

Commercially insurable risks typically share seven common characteristics.

1. A large number of homogeneous exposure units. The vast majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of very large classes. Automobile insurance, for example, covered about 175 million automobiles in the United States in 2004. The existence of a large number of homogeneous exposure units allows insurers to benefit from the so-called “law of large numbers,” which in effect states that as the number of exposure units increases, proportionally the actual results are increasingly likely to become close to expected proportions. There are exceptions to this criterion. Lloyd's of London is famous for insuring the life or health of actors, actresses and sports figures. Satellite Launch insurance covers events that are infrequent. Large commercial property policies may insure exceptional properties for which there are no ‘homogeneous’ exposure units. Despite failing on this criterion, many exposures like these are generally considered to be insurable.
   
   
2. Definite Loss. The event that gives rise to the loss that is subject to the insured, at least in principle, take place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause. The classic example is 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.
   
   
3. Accidental Loss. The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance. The loss should be ‘pure,’ in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost. Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks, are generally not considered insurable.
   
   
4. Large Loss. The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims. For small losses these latter costs may be several times the size of the expected cost of losses. There is little point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer.
   
   
5. Affordable Premium. If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that anyone will buy insurance, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards, the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer. If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance. (See the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board standard number 113)
   
   
6. Calculable Loss. There are two elements that must be at least estimable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost. Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim.
   
   
7. Limited risk of catastrophically large losses. The essential risk is often aggregation. If the same event can cause losses to numerous policyholders of the same insurer, the ability of that insurer to issue policies becomes constrained, not by factors surrounding the individual characteristics of a given policyholder, but by the factors surrounding the sum of all policyholders so exposed. Typically, insurers prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base, on the order of 5 percent. Where the loss can be aggregated, or an individual policy could produce exceptionally large claims, the capital constraint will restrict an insurer's appetite for additional policyholders. The classic example is earthquake insurance, where the ability of an underwriter to issue a new policy depends on the number and size of the policies that it has already underwritten. Wind insurance in hurricane zones, particularly along coast lines, is another example of this phenomenon. In extreme cases, the aggregation can affect the entire industry, since the combined capital of insurers and reinsurers can be small compared to the needs of potential policyholders in areas exposed to aggregation risk. In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer’s capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market.

Insurance

Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss.

Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss.

An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance.

The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium.

Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.

Malaysia's first quarter GDP shrinks 6.2%: Bank Negara

NST

KUALA LUMPUR, Wed: Malaysia's first quarter gross domestic product this year contracted by 6.2 percent from a growth of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter last year but the prognosis for improved economic conditions look brighter in the second half of the year.

Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, in announcing the GDP figures, attributed the contraction to the significant deterioration in external demand following the deepening recession in advanced economies.

"Export demand continues to be weak and the environment is still challenging. Despite early signs of improvement, Q2 will be similar to Q1," she told a press conference on the country's economic performance here today.

The economy was expected to continue to contract in the second quarter, she said.

"However, economic conditions are expected to improve in the second half of this year supported by fiscal stimulus measures and enhancing access to financing," said Dr Zeti.
"Malaysia is expected to see a significant improvement in the third quarter this year and a higher degree of positive growth in the fourth quarter that would continue into next year."

"There will be improvement, but it will also depend on both the external and domestic environment as well," she said.

"If the measures taken by other economies does take place, then Q2 would have seen the worst, she added.

Elaborating on the first quarter contraction, Dr Zeti said it was contributed also by the large inventory drawdown, particularly in the manufacturing and commodity sectors.

Fixed investment registered a decline due to weaker business sentiment. Public spending however, provided some support to growth.

On the supply side, all sectors recorded contraction except for the construction sector.

First Batch Of Sukuk Bonds Open For Sale

The Star

PETALING JAYA: The first batch of the dual-series RM2.5bil Islamic bonds, which offer returns of 5% per year, is open for sale today.

Applications can be made at any commercial or Islamic bank, or development financial institution in the country from today to May 13. Allocation is on a first-come, first-served basis.

The minimal allocation is RM1,000, while the maximum value is capped at RM50,000.

The first series of this Islamic bond, called Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat (SSR) 01/2009, is part of the Government’s RM60bil stimulus package announced on March 10, where up to RM5bil in saving bonds will be issued this year for people aged 21 and above, and with a maturity period of three years.

This programme is designed for Malaysian citizens as an alternative savings vehicle providing double the current fixed deposit rates, with option for account holders to withdraw their money any time.

Features include flexibility for holders to redeem as early as the first quarterly profit payment, including profits, and without an early exit penalty.