ABSTRACT
The ability of the private insurance market to assume risk is limited, but the fact that insurers are unable or unwilling to cover a risk in nowaymeans that a demand for risk transfer does not exist. There is also the question of whether the use of private insurance to handle a particular area of risk is the most efficient method. This question is considered by government and insurance buyers alike. Finally, in recent years, the buyers have begun to consider whether there may be alternatives to traditional insurance, given that 250 years of legal decisions have imposed a degree of inflexibility on the insurance contract and that these decisions are largely products of US and Western European courts and arise from the application of common law and civil law systems.
