On 2007-11-15 Future CFP, Glastonbury, CT USA wrote: My insurance class was unanimous in their disappointment with this textbook. Why?
1) VERBOSE - Takes twice as long to explain a concept as the concise authors in the Kaplan or Bisys book series. Also recommended is Principles of Risk Mgt. and Insurance by George Rejda (http://www.aw-bc.com/rejda/). I found out about these alternates mid-semester after it was too late to switch - don´t get stuck like I did.
2) NO ONLINE QUIZZES OR POWERPOINT SUMMARY SLIDES - Kaplan, Bisys and George Rejda offer these helpful study aids.
3) POOR FORMATTING - definitions are not bolded, italicized or presented as bullet points; sample problems are incorporated within long paragraphs, rather than separated out; margins are razor thin on the top and sides, allowing no room for notes.
4) BIASED - The authors generously sprinkle the text with their obvious bias favoring the insurance industry, especially regarding health care coverage. New approaches to health care and access are characterized as ´attacks´ (p.369 & 382) and ´crusades´ (p.382); ´Patients rarely object to more testing because it might do them some good, even if it is not cost effective for society as a whole.´ (p.367); and ´the debate over availability and affordability is a thinly veiled demand for cross-subsidies in the insurance market.´ (p.114). That´s just the tip of the iceberg.
If it was possible to give this book zero stars, I would. Whatever you do, don´t buy the book new - it´s so poorly written that my entire class is offloading theirs at the end of the fall 2007 semester, so it will be on Amazon soon.
. And summed up by saying Dreadful. Currently Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance has an overall rating of 6 over 10.
Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance can also be found in the following searches:
Wiley claimed This consumer-oriented textbook addresses the principles of risk management without skimping on the discussion of insurance. It summarizes the nature of pure risk on the individual and on society and illustrates how insurance can be used to deal with the problems posed by such risk. Mirroring the diverse experience of its authors, the text is equally effective in presenting the principles of insurance theory and offering how-to advice to students. Throughout, the main emphasis is on the insurance product and the use of insurance within the risk management framework. The traditional fields of life insurance, health insurance, property and liability insurance, and social insurance are treated in terms of their relationship to the wide range of insurable risks to which the individual and the business firm are exposed.
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