Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of
risk management primarily used to
hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. An insurer, or insurance carrier, is selling the insurance; the insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The amount of money to be
charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage is called the premium.
Risk management, the practice of
appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.