self-insurance

Self insurance is a risk management method in which an organization that is liable for some risk does not take out any third-party insurance, but rather chooses to bear the risk itself. When used prudently, the organization that self insures sets aside money using actuarial and insurance information and the law of large numbers so that the amount set aside (similar to an insurance premium) is enough to cover the future uncertain loss. The advantage is that no premium has to be paid, but the organization's own assets are used to pay out claims or losses.

The idea of self insurance is that by retaining, calculating risks, and paying the resulting claims or losses from captive or on-balance sheet financial provisions, the overall process is cheaper than buying commercial insurance from a commercial insurance company. Cost savings to the self-insured entity are usually realised through the elimination of the carrying-costs that commercial insurers are obliged to pass on to their insurance consumers.