Insurance transfers risk, which is one of the most effective ways to deal with risk and its losses. Not all risks are insurable, however. A risk must contain certain elements before it can be insured: for example, it must be a pure risk; the loss it entails must be due to chance; the loss must be definite and measurable; the loss must be predictable; the loss cannot be catastrophic and the loss exposure must be part of a large group, randomly selected. In the case of life insurance the risk is not if death will occur, but rather when.

The true worth of insurance lies in its ability to protect human life values — the value associated with an individual's earnings potential — and to provide financial security.