Once risk and identified and analyzed, it is important to plan and adopt a suitable strategy for controlling the risk. Risk planning and controlling is the stage which comes after the risk analysis process is over. There are five major methods of handling and controlling risk.
(a) Risk avoidance;
(b) Risk retention;
(c) Risk transfer;
(d) Loss control; and
Risk avoidance is one method of handling risk. For example, you can avoid the risk of being pick pocketed in 10 PP-IL&P Metropolitan cities by staying out of them; you can avoid the risk of divorce by not marrying; a career employee who is frequently transferred can avoid the risk of selling a house in a depressed real estate market by renting instead of owning; and a business firm can avoid the risk of being sued for a defective product by not producing the product. But as a practical matter, not all risks can or even should be avoided. For example, you can avoid the risk of death or disability in a plane crash by refusing to fly. But is this practical and desirable? The alternatives are not appealing. You can drive or take a bus or train, all of which take considerable time and often involve great fatigue. Although the risk of a plane crash is present, the safety record of commercial airlines is excellent, and flying is a reasonable risk to assume. Or one may wish to avoid the risk of business failure by refusing to go into business for oneself. But a person may have the necessary skills and capital to be successful in business, and risk avoidance may not be the best approach for him to follow in this case.
2- Risk Retention
Risk retention is a second method of handling risk. An individual or a business firm may retain all or part of a given risk. Risk retention can be either active or passive. Active Risk Retention Active risk retention means that an individual is consciously aware of the risk and deliberately plans to retain all or part of it. For example, a motorist may wish to retain the risk of a small collision loss by purchasing an own damage insurance policy with a Rs. 2,000 voluntary excess. A homeowner may retain a small part of the risk of damage to the house by purchasing a Householders policy with substantial voluntary excess. A business firm may deliberately retain the risk of petty thefts by employees, shoplifting, or the spoilage of perishable goods. Or a business firm may use risk retention in a self-insurance program, which is a special application of risk retention. In these cases, the individual or business firm makes a conscious decision to retain part or all of a given risk. Active risk retention is used for two major reasons. First, risk retention can save money. Insurance may not be purchased at all, or it may be purchased with voluntary excesses; either way, there is often a substantial saving in the cost of insurance. Second, the risk may be deliberately retained because commercial insurance is either unavailable or can be obtained only by the payment of prohibitive premiums. Some physicians, for example, practice medicine without professional liability insurance because they perceive the premiums to be inordinately high. Passive Risk Retention Risk can also be retained passively. Certain risks may be unknowingly retained because of ignorance, indifference, or lasiness. This is often dangerous if a risk that is retained has the potential for destroying a person financially. For example, many persons with earned incomes are not insured against the risk of longterm disability under either an individual or group disability income plan. However, the adverse financial consequences of a long-term disability generally are more severe than premature death. Thus, people who are not insured against the risk of long-term disability are using the technique of risk retention in a most dangerous and inappropriate manner. In summary, risk retention can be an extremely useful technique for handling risk, especially in a modern corporate risk management program. Risk retention, however, is appropriate primarily for high frequency, low severity risks where potential losses are relatively small. Except under unusual circumstances, an individual should not use the technique of risk retention to retain low frequency, high severity risks, such as the risk of catastrophic losses like earthquake and floods. Lesson 1 Understanding and Managing Risk 11
3- Risk Transfer
Risk transfer is another technique for handling risk. Risks can be transferred by several methods, among which are the following: (a) Transfer of risk by contracts; (b) Hedging price risks; and (c) Conversion to Public Limited Company. Transfer of risk by contracts Unwanted risks can be transferred by contracts. For example, the risk of a defective television or stereo set can be transferred to the retailer by purchasing a service contract, which makes the retailer responsible for all repairs after the warranty expires. The risk of a substantial increase in rent can be transferred to the landlord by a long-term lease. The risk of a substantial price increase in construction costs can be transferred to the builder by having a firm price in the contract rather than a cost-plus contract. Hedging price risks Hedging price risks is another example of risk transfer. Hedging is a technique for transferring the risk of unfavourable price fluctuations to a speculator by purchasing and selling futures contracts on an organized exchange, such as NSE. In recent years, institutional investors have sold stock index futures contracts to hedge against adverse price declines in the stock market. This technique is often called portfolio insurance. However, it is not formal insurance but is a risk transfer technique that provides considerable protection against a decline in stock prices.
Conversion to Public Limited Company
Incorporation is another example of risk transfer. If a firm is a sole proprietorship, creditors for satisfaction of debts can attach the owner’s personal assets, as well as the assets of the firm. If a firm incorporates, however, creditors for payment of the firm’s debts cannot attach the personal assets of the stockholders. In essence, by incorporation, the liability of the stockholders is limited, and the risk of the firm having insufficient assets to pay business debts is shifted to the creditors.
4- Loss Control
Loss control is another important method for handling risk. Loss control consists of certain activities undertaken to reduce both the frequency and severity of losses. Thus, loss control has two major objectives: (a) Loss prevention. (b) Loss reduction. Loss prevention Loss prevention aims at reducing the probability of loss so that the frequency of losses is reduced. Several examples of personal loss prevention can be given. Automobile accidents can be reduced if motorists pass a safe driving course and drive defensively. Dropping out of college can be prevented by intensive study on a regular basis. The number of heart attacks can be reduced if individuals watch their weight, give up smoking, and follow good health habits.
is also important for business firms. For example, a boiler explosion can be prevented by 12 PP-IL&P periodic inspections by a safety engineer; occupational accidents can be reduced by the elimination of unsafe working conditions and by strong enforcement of safety rules; and fire can be prevented by forbidding workers to smoke in an area where highly flammable materials are being used. In short, the goal of loss prevention is to prevent the loss from occurring.
Although stringent loss prevention efforts can reduce the frequency of losses, some losses will inevitably occur. Thus, the second objective of loss control is to reduce the severity of a loss after it occurs. For example, a warehouse can install a sprinkler system so that a fire is promptly extinguished, thereby reducing the loss; highly flammable materials can be stored in a separate area to confine a possible fire to that area; a plant can be constructed with fire resistant materials to minimize a loss; and fire doors and fire walls can be used to prevent a fire from spreading.
Loss control-Ideal method for handling risk
From the viewpoint of society, loss control is the ideal method for handling risk. This is true for two reasons. First, the indirect costs of losses may be large, and in some instances, they can easily exceed the direct costs. For example, a worker may be injured on the job. In addition to being responsible for the worker’s medical expenses and a certain percentage of earnings (direct costs), the firm may also incur sizeable indirect costs: a machine may be damaged and must be repaired; the assembly line may have to be shut down; costs are incurred in training a new worker to replace the injured worker; and a contract may be cancelled because goods are not shipped on time. By preventing the loss from occurring, both indirect costs and direct costs are reduced. Second, the social costs of losses must also be considered. For example, assume that the worker in the preceding example dies from the accident. Substantial social costs are incurred because of the death. Society is deprived forever of the goods and services that the deceased worker could have produced. The worker’s family loses its share of the worker’s earnings and may experience considerable grief and financial insecurity. And the worker may personally experience great pain and suffering before he or she finally dies. In short, these social costs can be reduced through an effective loss control programme.
INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE AS A RISK TRANSFER TECHNIQUES
Insurance and reinsurance are both forms of financial protection which are used to guard against the risk of losses. Losses are guarded against by transferring the risk to another party through the payment of an insurance premium, as an incentive for bearing the risk. Insurance and reinsurance are similar in concept even though they are quite different to each other in terms of how they are used.
Insurance is a more commonly known concept that describes the act of guarding against risk. An insured is the party who will seek to obtain an insurance policy while the insurer is the party that shares the risk for a paid price called an insurance premium. The insured can easily obtain an insurance policy for a number of risks. The most common types of insurance policy taken out is a vehicle/auto insurance policy as this is mandated by law in many countries. Other policies include home owner’s insurance, renter’s insurance, medical insurance, life insurance, liability insurance, etc. The insured who takes out a vehicle insurance will specify the losses against which he wishes to be insured. This may include repairs to the vehicle in case of an accident, damages to the party who is injured, payment for a rented vehicle until such time the insured’s vehicle is fixed, etc. The insurance premium paid will depend upon a number of factors such as the insured’s driving record, driver’s age, any medical.