What is the definition of Soft Market?
A Soft Market refers to a time in the insurance market where insurance coverage is readily available and easy to find. Thus, premiums are low since there are more sellers than there are buyers. This is what is considered as a buyer's market.
As insurance companies compete for clients, premiums rates drop rapidly and insurance companies tend to become more lenient with respect to their underwriting requirements and standards.
The property and casualty insurance market regularly experience a rotation between hard markets and soft markets. The cycle can occur for a line of insurance, or for a specific geographic location. The shift from a soft market to a hard market is usually caused by a major insurance event - like a catastrophe. When a natural disaster hits, the industry is turned into a hard market, when insurance coverage is less readily available.
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- Solvency
- Specified Disease Coverage
- Spendthrift Trust Clause
- Split-Dollar Life Insurance Plan
- Spread of Risk
- Stacking
- Standard Risk Class
- Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP)
- Stock Insurance Company
- Straight Life Annuity
- Single Premium Policies
- Single Premium Annuity
- Short-Term Disability Income Insurance
- Shared Market
- Sewer Back-Up Coverage
- Severity
- Settlement Options
- Separate Account
- Self-Insurance
- Segregated Account