1.2 Best Estimate based on Bayes (with Theoretical Distribution)

Proposition 1.2 (Poisson - Binomial) Assume the loss reporting follows a theoretical distribution

  • \(Y =\) (Ultimate) # of claims incurred each year \(\sim Poi(\mu)\)

  • \(X =\) # of claims reported by year end \(\sim Bin(y,d)\)

    • i.e. each claim have probability \(d\) of being reported in the first year

Ultimate claims = \(Q(x) = x + \mu(1-d)\)

Unreported claims = \(R(x) = \mu(1-d)\)

  • (Expected # of claims) \(\times\) (Expected % Unreported)

  • Similar to the BF Method

Proof. \(Q(x)\) is the estimator of \(Y\). It’s the sum of all possible \(y\)’s \(\times\) probability of the result being \(y\) given \(x\)

\(\begin{align} Q(x) &= \sum \limits_{y = x}^{\infty} y \Pr(Y = y \mid X = x) \\ Q(x) &= \sum \limits_{y = x}^{\infty} y \dfrac{\Pr(Y = y)\Pr(X = x \mid Y = y)}{\sum_i \Pr(Y = i) \Pr(X = x \mid Y = i)} \\ \end{align}\)

And we get Ultimate claims = \(Q(x) = x + \mu(1-d)\)

Proposition 1.3 (Negative Binomial - Binomial) Assume the loss reporting follows a theoretical distribution

  • \(Y =\) (Ultimate) # of claims incurred each year \(\sim NB(r, p)\)

    • \(Y =\) # of failures until \(r\) success with success probability = \(p\)

    • \(\mathrm{E[Y]} = \dfrac{r(1-p)}{p}\)

  • \(X =\) # of claims reported by year end \(\sim Bin(y,d)\)

Unreported claims = \(R(x) = \dfrac{s}{1-s}(x + r)\)

  • \(s = (1-d)(1-p)\)

1.2.1 Comparing Loss Development Methods

  1. Simulate loss based on one of the theoretical distribution

  2. Apply the various loss development method and calculate their respective parameters (\(y = a + b x\))

  3. Compare the estimated parameters with the true parameters based on the underlying theoretical distribution

  4. Also compare the MSE from different methods