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

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

From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026

Oscar’s medical loss ratio, a measure of the proportion of premiums that the insurer pays out on medical bills, rose sharply to 95.4%, well in excess of the average analyst target of 91.1%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

The solution requires acknowledging that the medical loss ratio rules were designed for an era when insurers and providers operated independently.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025

The Medicaid result left the company’s overall medical loss ratio at 92.7%, better than the 92.9% consensus estimate.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 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)