American Experience Table

What Does American Experience Table Mean?

The American Experience Table was a nineteenth-century precursor to the Commissioner’s Standard Ordinary Table (CSO). It assisted insurance companies in evaluating underwriting risks by providing data on the life expectancy rates of individuals within specific age ranges.

Insuranceopedia Explains American Experience Table

The American Experience Table analyzed data from a sample of 100,000 individuals in a specific age group. By tracking how many of them died in a given year, life insurance companies could estimate the death benefits they would need to pay out annually.

While insurance companies still use mortality tables to assess the risk of insuring policyholders, they now prefer more sophisticated and comprehensive models.