Premiums and agents' balances in course of collection; premiums, agents' balances and installments booked but deferred and not yet due; bills receivable, taken for premiums and accrued retrospective premiums.

The amount of the premium that as been paid for in advance that has been "earned" by virtue of the fact that time has passed without claim. A three-year policy that has been paid in advance and is one year old would have only partly earned the premium.

An insurance company's surplus, the equivalent of capital and retained earnings or net worth for a manufacturing company, is the amount by which assets exceed liabilities. It provides a cushion for absorbing above-average losses. The premium to surplus ratio is designed to measure the adequacy of this cushion or the company's financial strength. The ratio is computed by dividing net premiums written by the surplus. A company that has $2 in net premiums written for every $1 of surplus has a 2-to-1 premium to surplus ratio.

This refers to the risk profile of auto insurance policyholders (you and I) and can be divided into three categories: standard, non-standard, and preferred. In the eyes of an insurance company, it is the type of business (or the quality of driver you could say) that the company has chosen to taken on.

A measure of the competence and ability of management to provide viable insurance products at competitive prices and maintain a financial strong company for both policyholders and stockholders

Quick Assets divided by Net Liabilities plus Ceded Reinsurance Balances Payable, expressed as a percent. Quick assets are defined as the sum of cash, unaffiliated short-term investments, unaffiliated bonds maturing within one year, government bonds maturing within five years, and 80% of unaffiliated common stocks. These assets can be quickly converted into cash.