Insurance -- 1961 Tennessee Survey (II)

The Tennessee decisions in the field of insurance law during the survey period dealt almost exclusively with problems that may be characterized as the selection and control of risks. The importance of the principles used in the solution of these problems is obvious. Only by being able to select carefully those risks for which insurance will be offered can the insurer properly determine the premium that is to be charged. If policy language is interpreted to grant broader coverage than that actually intended, then the insurance fund is subjected to greater potential loss than estimated,so that the insurer's profits will be eliminated or reduced; on the other hand an unfairly narrow interpretation will mean that the insurer has received premiums for little or no protection.

In the latter situation it may, of course, be possible that some adjustment may be made regarding the return of premiums paid.'