In some countries, like India, the largest insurance provider is the government in their own country. But in the majority of countries, there are companies specifically formulated to provide such policy and or risk management vehicle. The premium is derived from a formulation determined by actuaries. These are individuals that use math, statistics and business knowledge to tabulate the life expectancy of an individual based upon their lifestyle, what they do for a living and their current health status. The same would apply to mortgage payment protection policies. An actuary gathers information regarding our current economic condition, the type of mortgage the borrower has and the risk associated with that mortgage based upon the underwriting guidelines, then they take into consideration the credit risk of the borrower seeking the protection. Once all this data is gathered and analyzed, they then come up with a premium for such a policy. This is called risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk.