loss ratio

American  

noun

Insurance.

1. the ratio of the losses paid or accrued by an insurer to premiums earned, usually for a period of one year.

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loss ratio British  

noun

1. the ratio of the annual losses sustained to the premiums received by an insurance company

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Etymology

Origin of loss ratio

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

loss ratio

The company’s medical loss ratio in the year-earlier period came in at 88.1%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

That estimate puts the loss ratio about 2 percentage points higher than the same quarter a year prior.

From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026

The trick hinges on a seemingly noble safeguard known as the medical loss ratio.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025

Analysts expect third-quarter earnings of $2.80 per share on $113 billion in sales, with a medical loss ratio of 90.7%.

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2025

They're the slop bucket of Boston, the standard lemon of Kilby Street; they've got a loss ratio of three thousand per cent, and they've burnt the hide off every company that's ever touched them.

From White Ashes by Kennedy, Sidney R. (Sidney Robinson)