Question

1. laura keeps poisonous snakes on her property for research purposes. one of the snakes escaped and bit a neighbor who sued laura. though laura carefully contained the snakes, the plaintiff won the suit on the basis of the doctrine of:

○ a. assumption of risk
○ b. comparative negligence
○ c. strict (absolute) liability
○ d. vicarious liability

1. underwriters of property or casualty insurance policies commonly use all of the following sources of information when deciding to accept or reject a risk except:

○ a. credit report
○ b. genealogical records
○ c. loss history data
○ d. motor vehicle record

1. last year, pdq insurance company had a combined ratio of 105 percent, which means:

○ a. pdq had an investment profit last year
○ b. pdq had an underwriting loss last year
○ c. pdq had an underwriting profit last year

Explanation:

1. Strict liability holds a party liable for damages caused by inherently dangerous activities (like keeping poisonous snakes) regardless of fault. Laura's careful containment doesn't matter under this doctrine.
2. Underwriters use credit reports (a), loss history data (c), and motor vehicle records (d) for risk assessment. Genealogical records (b) are not relevant to property/casualty risk evaluation.
3. A combined ratio > 100% (105% here) indicates an underwriting loss. The combined ratio is the sum of the loss ratio and the expense ratio. If it's over 100, the company paid out more in claims and expenses than it received in premiums from underwriting.

Answer:

1. C. strict (absolute) liability
2. B. genealogical records
3. B. PDQ had an underwriting loss last year