SCI · 31 key concepts

31 Key Concepts for the SCI CRI (Certificate in Reinsurance) Exam: A Practical Study Guide

CMFASExam · Reviewed · 20 min read

The SCI Certification in Reinsurance (CRI), administered by the Singapore College of Insurance, is designed for executives and staff in reinsurance companies, reinsurance broking firms, reinsurance departments of direct insurers, and regulatory bodies who need a working knowledge of reinsurance principles and practices. SCI suggests candidates preferably have around six months of relevant working experience, though this is a preference rather than a hard requirement. The examination is a closed-book, computer-screen test of 100 multiple-choice questions completed in two hours, with 80 knowledge questions and 20 calculation questions. This guide breaks the syllabus into 31 substantive concepts mapped to the official chapter contents, explains the mechanics behind proportional and non-proportional treaties, accounting flows, contract wordings and life reassurance, and flags the calculation skills tested in Part II. Use it as a structured companion to the official eBook: read each concept, test yourself against the worked scenarios, and follow the revision stages at the end. All assessment facts here are drawn from the official SCI examination page; always reconfirm current details with SCI before registering.

Exam and assessment essentials

Structure
100 multiple-choice questions: Part I with 80 questions and Part II with 20 calculation questions[1]
Duration
2 hours[1]
Passing requirements
Minimum 40 marks in Part I, minimum 10 marks in Part II, and an overall passing grade of 70 marks out of 100[1]
Marking
One mark per correct answer; no deduction for wrong or blank answers[1]
Mode
English-medium closed-book computer screen examination; self-study supported via eBook only (no hard copy study texts)[1]
Frequency
Normally conducted two to four times a year on a weekday[1]
Resits and exemptions
No limit on the number of attempts; no exemption is granted[1]
Outcome
A result slip is issued; no certificate document is issued for the exam itself[1]
CPD recognition
2 CPD hours upon passing this module[1]
Syllabus currency
Chapter 11 on the evolving reinsurance landscape applies only in the 4th Edition, Version 1.0, for examinations from 23 April 2025 onwards[1]

What the syllabus covers

This study map groups the official scope into revision themes. It is not an official chapter list or a prediction of question weightings.

Introduction to reinsurance

Define reinsurance, explain its functions for the ceding insurer, master core terminology such as cession and retrocession, and distinguish reinsurance from coinsurance[1]

The reinsurance market

Identify the market participants, the role of brokers, and how market structure and cycles affect capacity and pricing[1]

Forms of reinsurance

Classify arrangements as facultative or treaty, obligatory or optional, and proportional or non-proportional, and explain when each form suits the cedent's need[1]

Facultative reinsurance

Explain the facultative placement process, its advantages and drawbacks for both cedent and reinsurer, and the risks it covers[1]

Proportional treaties

Contrast quota share and surplus treaties, divide premiums and losses proportionately, and compute ceding commission and treaty capacity in lines[1]

Non-proportional treaties

Work with excess-of-loss structures per risk, per event and aggregate, calculate rate-on-line premiums, reinstatements and layering[1]

Reinsurance accounting

Follow technical premium and loss accounts, bordereaux, cash loss settlements and the settlement of balances between parties[1]

Contract wordings

Interpret key clauses including follow the fortunes, cut-through, arbitration and errors-and-omissions provisions, and understand inuring reinsurance[1]

Life reassurance

Explain why life insurers reassurance, and distinguish yearly renewable term risk premium arrangements from coinsurance methods[1]

Office practice and procedure

Describe the workflow from placement through documentation to claims handling and settlement of reinsurance balances[1]

Issues arising from the evolving reinsurance landscape

Discuss emerging developments including alternative risk transfer and capital market solutions in the current edition of the study text[1]

31 key concepts to understand

  1. What reinsurance is and why insurers buy it
  2. Functions of reinsurance: capacity, spreading and stabilisation
  3. Core terminology: cedent, cession and retrocession
  4. Reinsurance versus coinsurance
  5. Indemnity and the contractual nature of reinsurance
  6. Players in the reinsurance market
  7. The reinsurance broker's role
  8. Market cycles: hard and soft conditions
  9. Facultative versus treaty reinsurance
  10. The obligatory treaty mechanism
  11. Proportional versus non-proportional bases
  12. When facultative reinsurance is used
  13. Advantages and drawbacks of facultative cover
  14. Quota share treaties
  15. Surplus treaties and lines of capacity
  16. Ceding commission and profit commission
  17. Dividing premium and losses under proportional treaties
  18. Excess-of-loss per risk
  19. Catastrophe and aggregate excess-of-loss
  20. Rate on line and non-proportional premium
  21. Reinstatements and reinstatement premiums
  22. Technical accounts and bordereaux
  23. Cash losses and settlement of balances
  24. Follow the fortunes (settlements) clause
  25. Cut-through clauses
  26. Arbitration and errors-and-omissions clauses
  27. Inuring reinsurance and the net retained line
  28. Why life insurers buy reassurance
  29. Yearly renewable term versus coinsurance methods
  30. Office practice: from placement to settlement
  31. Alternative risk transfer and capital market solutions

Introduction to Reinsurance

1. What reinsurance is and why insurers buy it

Reinsurance is insurance purchased by an insurer, under which the reinsurer agrees to indemnify the ceding company for part of the losses on risks it has underwritten. It is a separate commercial contract between two insurance professionals, governed by negotiation and utmost good faith, and it does not alter the cedent's obligations to its own policyholders.[1]

Apply it: A general insurer writes a factory fire policy for 20 million, then reinsures half of that exposure with a reinsurer so that a total loss would cost it only 10 million net.

Common mistake: Treating reinsurance as a transfer that releases the cedent from its original duty to pay its insured; the cedent remains fully liable on the underlying policy.

Introduction to Reinsurance

2. Functions of reinsurance: capacity, spreading and stabilisation

Reinsurance enlarges the cedent's underwriting capacity so it can accept risks larger than its own net retention, spreads accumulated exposures across the market, stabilises year-to-year results by smoothing large fluctuations, and protects against catastrophe accumulations. It also supports solvency management and gives the cedent access to the reinsurer's underwriting and pricing expertise.[1]

Apply it: A small insurer could not on its own retain a port cargo accumulation; reinsuring part of each risk lets it quote for the business while keeping its net line manageable.

Common mistake: Saying reinsurance eliminates risk entirely; it redistributes part of the risk and the cedent still retains exposures under any retention it keeps.

Introduction to Reinsurance

3. Core terminology: cedent, cession and retrocession

The cedent (or ceding company) is the direct insurer passing on part of its risk; each risk passed is a cession; the reinsurer assumes it. When a reinsurer in turn reinsures part of what it has assumed, this is retrocession, and the receiving party is a retrocessionaire. Precise use of these terms underpins treaty documentation and accounting.[1]

Apply it: Insurer A cedes a marine risk to reinsurer B; B, wanting to limit its own aggregation, retrocedes 20 percent of that assumption to reinsurer C, the retrocessionaire.

Common mistake: Confusing a retrocession with the original placement; a retrocession sits above the reinsurance and creates no obligation between the retrocessionaire and the original cedent.

Introduction to Reinsurance

4. Reinsurance versus coinsurance

Coinsurance occurs at the direct level: two or more insurers each write a share of the same risk and are known to the insured. Reinsurance happens one level up: only the reinsurer knows of its participation, the contract covers the cedent's interest across risks or accounts, and the insured deals solely with the cedent. The two mechanisms answer different needs and are documented differently.[1]

Apply it: For a large power plant, three insurers may each sign for a share on the policy (coinsurance), while each of them separately reinsures its own share facultatively without the insured's involvement.

Common mistake: Assuming the insured can claim from the reinsurer because the risk was partly reinsured; privity of contract sits between insured and cedent only.

Introduction to Reinsurance

5. Indemnity and the contractual nature of reinsurance

Non-life reinsurance is generally an indemnity contract: it compensates the cedent for losses it has actually borne, in proportion to the reinsurance arranged. However, care is needed because certain arrangements, notably some life reassurance products, pay fixed sums rather than indemnifying actual loss. The reinsurer's liability runs to the cedent under the reinsurance contract itself.[1]

Apply it: A reinsurer pays its agreed share of a cargo claim the cedent has settled; the recovery is measured by the reinsurance contract terms, not by the insured's own loss documents.

Common mistake: Applying the indemnity principle as a blanket rule; fixed-benefit life reassurance benefits are not reduced to an indemnity of the cedent's outlay.

The Reinsurance Market

6. Players in the reinsurance market

Supply comes from professional reinsurers writing reinsurance only, reinsurance departments or subsidiaries of direct insurers, Lloyd's syndicates, and professional retrocessionaires. Demand comes from direct insurers and reinsurers seeking protection. Understanding who writes which classes, on what scale, helps a cedent choose counterparties with the security and expertise the account requires.[1]

Apply it: A motor insurer might buy excess-of-loss protection from a global professional reinsurer while also ceding proportional business to the reinsurance arm of a friendly direct competitor.

Common mistake: Assuming every reinsurer writes every class; participants specialise by line, territory and treaty type, so counterparty selection is a technical exercise.

The Reinsurance Market

7. The reinsurance broker's role

A reinsurance broker acts as intermediary between cedent and reinsurer: preparing presentations and slips, approaching markets for terms, helping negotiate wordings, channelling premiums and claims payments, and providing market intelligence. The broker is usually paid commission on premium placed and owes duties of care to its client, the cedent, throughout the placement and settlement cycle.[1]

Apply it: A regional insurer asks its broker to market a new surplus treaty; the broker presents the portfolio statistics to five reinsurers and negotiates commission rates on the returned quotations.

Common mistake: Thinking the broker acts for the reinsurer; the broker's client is generally the cedent, although it must still deal fairly with all parties.

The Reinsurance Market

8. Market cycles: hard and soft conditions

Reinsurance pricing and capacity move in cycles. In a hard market, capacity tightens after poor results or catastrophes, rates rise, terms tighten and retentions increase. In a soft market, abundant capacity drives rates down and broader terms. Cedents time their purchases and negotiators adjust structures, such as attachment points, according to the prevailing phase of the cycle.[1]

Apply it: After a run of heavy catastrophe years, a reinsurer quotes a property catastrophe layer at a materially higher rate-on-line and reduces the limit it will offer per programme.

Common mistake: Treating pricing as static; a structure bought cheaply in a soft market may be repriced sharply when the cycle turns.

Forms of Reinsurance

9. Facultative versus treaty reinsurance

Facultative reinsurance is negotiated risk by risk: the cedent offers each case, and the reinsurer may accept or decline at will. Treaty reinsurance is a standing agreement obliging the reinsurer to accept all risks falling within its scope, which the cedent must cede. The choice trades flexibility and selectivity against automatic cover and administrative efficiency.[1]

Apply it: Routine household risks flow automatically under an obligatory treaty, while a single unusual tunnel construction project is submitted facultatively to selected reinsurers.

Common mistake: Believing a treaty obliges only the reinsurer; a treaty binds both sides, so the cedent must cede and the reinsurer must accept in-scope business.

Forms of Reinsurance

10. The obligatory treaty mechanism

Under an obligatory (automatic) treaty, the cedent must cede every risk within the treaty's defined scope, and the reinsurer must accept its stated share, without individual selection. Scope is defined by classes of business, territories, exclusions and limits in the treaty wording. This gives the cedent certainty of protection and lets it write confidently within agreed parameters.[1]

Apply it: A fire treaty covering all standard fire risks in a territory binds the reinsurer to 30 percent of every qualifying policy the cedent writes during the treaty period.

Common mistake: Ceding an excluded or out-of-scope risk under the treaty and assuming cover; the wording's scope and exclusions decide whether the cession is valid.

Forms of Reinsurance

11. Proportional versus non-proportional bases

Proportional reinsurance divides premiums and losses between cedent and reinsurer in the agreed proportion of sum insured or exposure. Non-proportional reinsurance instead reimburses losses exceeding an agreed attachment point, up to a limit, for an agreed premium that is not proportional to the underlying premium. The two bases serve different purposes and use different pricing logic.[1]

Apply it: In a 40 percent quota share the reinsurer takes 40 percent of every premium and claim; under a 2 million excess-of-loss it pays only losses above 2 million regardless of premium shares.

Common mistake: Mixing the pricing methods; ceding commission belongs to proportional covers, while rate-on-line pricing belongs to non-proportional covers.

Facultative Reinsurance

12. When facultative reinsurance is used

Facultative placements suit risks that are too large for the cedent's net retention or treaty capacity, fall outside treaty scope, are unusual or hazardous, or arise before treaty cover is in place. It also lets reinsurers see and price individual unusual risks on their merits, and gives the cedent selective access to specialist capacity for one-off exposures.[1]

Apply it: A cedent's fire treaty covers up to 5 million per risk; a warehouse valued at 12 million needs the top 7 million placed facultatively with several reinsurers.

Common mistake: Using facultative cover for routine homogeneous risks; the cost and administration of case-by-case placement make treaties far more efficient for that business.

Facultative Reinsurance

13. Advantages and drawbacks of facultative cover

For the cedent, facultative reinsurance brings tailor-made terms and access to capacity beyond treaties, but it is slower, costlier, and offers no certainty that the risk will be accepted. For the reinsurer, it offers selection of preferred risks, but it carries higher acquisition costs and the risk of adverse selection, since unattractive risks are precisely the ones offered.[1]

Apply it: A reinsurer declining a poorly protected chemical plant facultative risk saves itself a bad case, but must stay alert that cedents usually shop only the difficult risks around.

Common mistake: Assuming a quotation creates cover; facultative cover exists only once the offer is accepted and, where applicable, premium and documentation are settled.

Proportional Treaties

14. Quota share treaties

A quota share obliges the cedent to cede a fixed percentage of every risk within scope, with premiums and losses shared in the same percentage. Because the reinsurer participates across the whole account, including good and poor business alike, it pays the cedent a ceding commission to reflect acquisition and administrative costs and to help fund the cedent's expenses.[1]

Apply it: Under a 30 percent quota share, a cedent cedes 30 percent of a 500,000 premium, passing 150,000 to the reinsurer with an agreed commission deducted from it.

Common mistake: Confusing the quota share percentage with the commission rate; the cession percentage divides premium and loss, while commission is a separate negotiated allowance.

Proportional Treaties

15. Surplus treaties and lines of capacity

A surplus treaty lets the cedent retain every risk up to its own retention, expressed in a monetary amount, and cede the excess to the reinsurer up to a multiple of that retention called lines. The reinsurer's share of each risk therefore varies with the risk size, unlike a quota share. Sums insured beyond treaty capacity must be placed facultatively.[1]

Apply it: With a 1 million retention and a 4-line surplus treaty, automatic capacity is 5 million; an 8 million risk needs 3 million placed facultatively above the treaty.

Common mistake: Calculating capacity as retention plus lines as if lines were monetary; lines are multiples, so 4 lines of a 1 million retention give 5 million total, not 4 million.

Proportional Treaties

16. Ceding commission and profit commission

Ceding commission, usually a percentage of ceded premium, reimburses the cedent for acquisition costs and allows for expense loadings; it may be flat, sliding-scale or on a deposit basis. Profit commission lets the cedent share in treaty profit: after the account's premiums, losses and expense allowances are struck, an agreed percentage of any profit is returned to the cedent.[1]

Apply it: If a treaty account shows 200,000 of profit after losses and allowances and profit commission is set at 50 percent, the reinsurer returns 100,000 to the cedent.

Common mistake: Expecting profit commission every year; it is payable only when the technical account actually shows a profit after the agreed deductions.

Proportional Treaties

17. Dividing premium and losses under proportional treaties

Part II calculations often require splitting premium and losses by the treaty share. Under a quota share the split is the same for every risk; under a surplus treaty the ceded percentage differs risk by risk, computed as ceded sum insured divided by total sum insured, subject to the treaty's line limit. Loss recoveries then follow the same ceded proportion.[1]

Apply it: In a surplus treaty with 1 million retention, a 4 million risk is ceded 75 percent; a 600,000 loss on it is therefore shared 150,000 retained and 450,000 recovered.

Common mistake: Applying one uniform percentage across a surplus treaty; the cession ratio must be recalculated for each individual risk's sum insured.

Non-Proportional Treaties

18. Excess-of-loss per risk

Risk-excess cover attaches separately to each individual risk: for every loss on a covered risk, the reinsurer pays the amount exceeding the attachment point (the cedent's retention) up to the limit, and the layer may sit above the cedent's own retention or above other reinsurance. It caps the cedent's loss from any single large risk without sharing smaller losses.[1]

Apply it: With a 2 million xs 1 million per-risk cover, a fire loss of 2.5 million on one building is shared as 1 million retained by the cedent and 1.5 million recovered.

Common mistake: Adding multiple small losses to reach the attachment point; per-risk excess responds to each risk's loss individually, not to accumulated totals.

Non-Proportional Treaties

19. Catastrophe and aggregate excess-of-loss

Catastrophe (per event) excess protects against accumulations from one occurrence such as a storm or earthquake affecting many risks; the attachment is tested against the total event loss, sometimes subject to a franchise or annual aggregate deductible. Aggregate excess instead responds once cumulative losses over the year breach an agreed annual attachment, smoothing a poor underwriting year.[1]

Apply it: A 30 million xs 10 million catastrophe layer absorbs the portion of a typhoon event loss between 10 million and 40 million across all affected policies.

Common mistake: Using per-risk and per-event covers interchangeably; a single-site fire loss and a multi-policy storm loss may trigger entirely different treaties.

Non-Proportional Treaties

20. Rate on line and non-proportional premium

Non-proportional premium is commonly expressed as rate on line: the premium equals the layer's limit multiplied by an agreed percentage rate. The rate reflects the layer's expected loss cost, which falls as the attachment point rises. Layering lets a cedent buy capacity in slices, each priced according to its position in the loss distribution.[1]

Apply it: A 5 million xs 5 million layer bought at a rate on line of 6 percent costs 300,000 premium for the period.

Common mistake: Computing premium on the attachment point instead of the limit; the rate applies to the layer's limit, the amount the reinsurer actually provides.

Non-Proportional Treaties

21. Reinstatements and reinstatement premiums

After a loss erodes an excess-of-loss layer, a reinstatement restores the limit to its full amount so the cover continues for remaining losses in the period. Treaties specify the number of reinstatements and the additional premium, frequently calculated pro rata capita, that is, original premium multiplied by the reinstated proportion of the limit.[1]

Apply it: A 10 million limit bought for 300,000 premium suffers a 4 million loss; one pro rata capita reinstatement costs 300,000 multiplied by 4 over 10, that is 120,000.

Common mistake: Forgetting that a reinstatement usually costs extra premium; assuming the limit returns free of charge after a large loss is a costly planning error.

Reinsurance Accounting

22. Technical accounts and bordereaux

Proportional treaties are administered through technical accounts: the premium account records ceded premium less commission, and the loss account records paid and outstanding losses. The cedent supports these with bordereaux, periodic statements listing individual cessions and losses, enabling the reinsurer to verify the treaty's operation and prepare interim or final account settlements.[1]

Apply it: Each quarter the cedent sends a premium bordereau listing every cession under the treaty; the reinsurer checks it before paying the net balance shown in the account.

Common mistake: Treating bordereaux as optional paperwork; they are the evidential basis on which reinsurance balances are calculated, verified and settled.

Reinsurance Accounting

23. Cash losses and settlement of balances

For large claims, the cedent may request a cash loss payment so it is not out of pocket while periodic accounts run; the reinsurer advances its share against the eventual settlement. Between formal settlements, the parties' balances may be shown as amounts due to or due from each other and may, subject to the treaty terms and applicable accounting treatment, be offset to reduce payment flows.[1]

Apply it: After a major fire, the cedent settles the insured quickly and asks the reinsurer for an immediate cash loss of its 40 percent share rather than waiting for the next quarterly account.

Common mistake: Expecting automatic immediate reimbursement; cash losses are usually triggered only above agreed thresholds and are subject to the treaty's payment conditions.

Contract Wordings

24. Follow the fortunes (settlements) clause

This clause binds the reinsurer to indemnify the cedent for claims settled honestly, reasonably and in good faith, even if the reinsurer might have handled the underlying claim differently. It spares the reinsurer from re-underwriting each claim, but it does not oblige it to pay settlements made outside the treaty scope, fraudulently, or without reasonable care.[1]

Apply it: A cedent reasonably compromises an ambiguous marine claim for less than policy limits; under follow the fortunes the reinsurer contributes its share without disputing the commercial judgment.

Common mistake: Reading the clause as a licence to settle anything; ex gratia or out-of-scope payments are not automatically recoverable simply because the cedent chose to make them.

Contract Wordings

25. Cut-through clauses

A cut-through clause modifies the ordinary privity rule by giving a specified third party, such as the original insured or a beneficiary, a direct right to claim reinsurance proceeds from the reinsurer if the cedent fails to pay, for example on insolvency. It is used where security of the ultimate payee matters, such as in fronting and captive programmes and certain life or financial reinsurance arrangements.[1]

Apply it: A captive's fronting arrangement includes a cut-through so that the program's beneficiaries can recover directly from the reinsurer if the fronting company cannot pay.

Common mistake: Assuming policyholders always have direct reinsurer access; without an express cut-through or statutory provision, they can claim only from their own insurer.

Contract Wordings

26. Arbitration and errors-and-omissions clauses

Reinsurance wordings typically route disputes to arbitration by industry insiders rather than open court litigation, keeping proceedings confidential and technically informed. The errors-and-omissions clause protects the cedent from losing cover over unintentional mistakes or omissions in ceding, reporting or settlement, provided there is no fraud; errors are then corrected as discovered rather than voiding the contract.[1]

Apply it: A cedent inadvertently omits a risk from its quarterly bordereau; under the E&O clause the omission is rectified and cover continues, since no fraud is involved.

Common mistake: Believing the E&O clause shields deliberate misreporting; the protection applies to honest mistakes, not to fraudulent conduct.

Contract Wordings

27. Inuring reinsurance and the net retained line

Inuring reinsurance is protection that applies before another reinsurance in the order of recovery, reducing the loss the outward programme must respond to. A reinsured's net line is what remains after recoveries under inuring protections are deducted. Wordings must state clearly whether a layer attaches to gross losses or to losses net of inuring reinsurance.[1]

Apply it: A 1 million quota share inures to the benefit of an excess-of-loss treaty, so the XL layer responds only to the loss remaining after the quota share recovery.

Common mistake: Calculating an excess-of-loss recovery on the gross loss without checking whether the wording attaches net of inuring reinsurance.

Life Reassurance

28. Why life insurers buy reassurance

Life reassurance lets a life office accept larger individual sums assured than its own retention, stabilise mortality fluctuations across its portfolio, obtain underwriting and product expertise from specialists, and manage new-business strain and capital. The reassurer's obligation runs to the life office under the reassurance treaty, and the policyholder's contract with the office is unchanged.[1]

Apply it: A life insurer retains 1 million on each life and reassures the excess so it can issue a 10 million key-man policy while keeping its mortality exposure contained.

Common mistake: Assuming death claims are paid to the family by the reassurer; the reassurer reimburses the life office, which alone pays the policyholder's claim.

Life Reassurance

29. Yearly renewable term versus coinsurance methods

Under yearly renewable term (YRT) reassurance, the office retains policy reserves and reassures only the sum at risk, that is, sum assured minus reserves, paying a risk premium that rises with age. Under coinsurance, premiums, reserves and the corresponding assets are shared with the reassurer in the ceded proportion, transferring investment and reserve risks as well as mortality risk.[1]

Apply it: On a whole-life policy with 500,000 sum assured and 80,000 reserves, YRT reassures the 420,000 net amount at risk, while coinsurance would cede a share of the full policy economics.

Common mistake: Assuming both methods affect only mortality risk; coinsurance also passes a share of reserves and investment experience, YRT does not.

Office Practice Procedure

30. Office practice: from placement to settlement

Reinsurance administration runs from preparing a submission or slip and exchanging quotations, through agreeing terms and issuing treaty or facultative documentation, to recording cessions, sending bordereaux, advising and settling claims, and finalising account balances. Sound practice requires accurate records, timely advice of changes, and consistent follow-up so recoveries and payments are neither missed nor disputed.[1]

Apply it: A technical team logs each facultative quotation, confirms accepted terms in writing, records the cession, then tracks the claim recovery through to final balance settlement.

Common mistake: Leaving accepted terms undocumented; without written confirmation of quotation and acceptance, later disputes over scope or shares are hard to resolve.

Issues Arising From the Evolving Reinsurance Landscape

31. Alternative risk transfer and capital market solutions

Traditional reinsurance capacity can be supplemented by alternative risk transfer, in which capital markets assume peak risks. Insurance-linked securities such as catastrophe bonds pay investors a yield that is forfeited, in whole or part, if a defined catastrophe occurs, transferring specified risk to investors. This widens capacity but introduces trigger, basis and structural considerations different from indemnity treaties.[1]

Apply it: An insurer sponsors a catastrophe bond covering a named storm zone; if a defined event occurs, part of the investors' principal funds the insurer's losses instead of being repaid.

Common mistake: Assuming capital market triggers match actual losses exactly; parametric or index-based structures can pay even when the sponsor's own loss differs from the trigger.

How to revise for SCI CRI

  1. 1. Stage 1: Map the syllabus to the current eBook edition

    Download the eBook from SCI, confirm you are using the 4th Edition, Version 1.0 (which adds Chapter 11 for examinations from 23 April 2025 onwards), and check the Version Control Record at the back for updates. Build an 11-chapter checklist so no chapter, especially the new landscape chapter, is left uncovered.

  2. 2. Stage 2: Master the conceptual chapters first

    Work through Chapters 1 to 4 and 8 to 11, writing one-sentence definitions of every term (cedent, cession, retrocession, inuring, cut-through) and drawing a diagram of how facultative, quota share, surplus and excess-of-loss sit relative to each other. These chapters feed the bulk of Part I knowledge questions.

  3. 3. Stage 3: Drill Part II calculations daily

    Part II carries 20 calculation questions with a separate minimum of 10 marks, so practise until automatic: surplus treaty capacity and cession ratios, quota share premium and commission splits, rate-on-line premiums, and pro rata capita reinstatement premiums. Create five fresh numbers for yourself each session and check every answer against the limit logic.

  4. 4. Stage 4: Compare and contrast with summary tables

    Build your own comparison tables: facultative versus treaty, quota share versus surplus, per-risk versus per-event versus aggregate excess, and YRT versus coinsurance. Examiners reward precise distinctions, and most errors come from applying the mechanics of one structure to another.

  5. 5. Stage 5: Attempt mixed self-tests under time pressure

    Two hours for 100 questions averages just over one minute per question, so simulate full papers using questions you set from each chapter or self-test scenarios like the three above. Flag any topic where you hesitate, and return to the eBook section rather than re-reading whole chapters.

  6. 6. Stage 6: Reconfirm logistics and register early

    Before booking, verify on the official SCI page the current examination dates (normally two to four sessions a year), fees, and the computer-screen exam rules. Confirm which study text version your sitting is examined on, plan registration around the schedule, and remember there is no exemption and no limit on resits if a first attempt falls short.

Test your understanding

These original learning scenarios are for revision; they are not official examination questions.

1. An insurer has a surplus treaty with a 2 million retention and 3 lines. A property risk has a sum insured of 7 million. How much of this risk is ceded under the treaty, how much is retained, and how much must be placed elsewhere? Show your reasoning.

Show answer and explanation

The retention is 2 million and 3 lines of that retention give 6 million of surplus, so total automatic treaty capacity is 2 million plus 6 million, that is 8 million. The 7 million risk is fully within capacity. The cedent retains 2 million and cedes the excess of 5 million under the treaty, giving the reinsurer a 5/7 share of the premium and any losses on that risk. Because the cession of 5 million is within the 6 million surplus capacity, nothing needs to be placed facultatively or elsewhere.[1]

2. A cedent buys a 10 million xs 10 million catastrophe layer for 400,000 premium with one reinstatement offered pro rata capita. A typhoon causes a 16 million event loss falling within the layer. What does the reinsurer pay for the loss, and what premium restores the full limit?

Show answer and explanation

The layer attaches at 10 million and its top is 20 million (10 million limit). Of the 16 million event loss, the first 10 million is retained by the cedent and the reinsurer pays the 6 million above the attachment. The pro rata capita reinstatement premium equals the original premium multiplied by the proportion of limit consumed: 400,000 multiplied by 6/10, which is 240,000. After payment and reinstatement, the limit is restored to 10 million for the rest of the period.[1]

3. Candidate A scores 68 in Part I and 13 in Part II. Candidate B scores 45 in Part I and 12 in Part II. Under the CRI passing rules, which candidate(s) pass, and why?

Show answer and explanation

Candidate A passes and Candidate B fails. Candidate A clears the Part I minimum of 40 (scoring 68), the Part II minimum of 10 (scoring 13), and totals 81, which exceeds the required overall 70 marks. Candidate B also clears both part minima (45 in Part I and 12 in Part II) but totals only 57, below the 70-mark overall requirement, so meeting the part minimums alone is not enough to pass.[1]

Frequently asked questions

What is the pass mark for the SCI CRI reinsurance exam?

You need a minimum of 40 marks out of 80 in Part I, a minimum of 10 marks out of 20 in Part II, and an overall total of 70 marks out of 100. Each correct answer earns one mark and there is no negative marking for wrong or blank answers, so attempt every question.[1]

How many questions are in the CRI exam and how long do I get?

The exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions taken in 2 hours: Part I has 80 knowledge questions and Part II has 20 calculation questions. It is a closed-book computer screen examination in English, and candidates typically self-study using the SCI eBook.[1]

Can I resit the CRI exam, and are any exemptions available?

Yes to resits: there is no limit on the number of times you may sit the examination. No exemption is granted for the CRI, so all candidates take the full paper. Check the official SCI page for current sitting dates, normally two to four times a year on a weekday.[1]

Which study text version should I use for the CRI exam?

Candidates prepare using the SCI eBook, as hard copy study texts are no longer issued. Chapter 11, covering issues from the evolving reinsurance landscape, appears only in the 4th Edition, Version 1.0, and applies to CRI examinations from 23 April 2025 onwards. Check the Version Control Record at the back of the eBook for any updates.[1]

Does passing the CRI give me CPD hours or CII credits?

SCI states that passing the module entitles you to 2 CPD hours. The official page also historically referenced eligibility to apply for Certificate-level CII recognition-of-prior-learning credits, but noted those credits were valid only until 31 January 2023. Do not assume current availability; confirm the present position directly with SCI and the CII before relying on any credit arrangement.[1]

Official sources and review notes

Public IBF and SCI sources were checked on 16 September 2026 for syllabus scope and assessment details, with additional primary references where listed. References identify the relevant syllabus or subject source; explanations and examples are original teaching material. This guide selects important concepts and does not replace the full official study text. Confirm the applicable edition and any updates with the administrator before your assessment.

  1. [1]Certification in Reinsurance || SCI
  2. [2]SCI: regulatory study-text update notice (July 2026)
  3. [3]SCI: professional and financial-planning study-text notice