Consumer Mathematics: Insurance · Form 5
Consumer Mathematics: Insurance: Paper 2 Answering Guide
How Consumer Mathematics: Insurance appears in Mathematics Paper 2 (Subjective), and how to lay out your working so you earn every method mark.
How it is examined
Questions describe a policy and ask you to compute a premium, a claim or a shortfall using the given rates. The maths is arithmetic; the difficulty is reading the terms carefully and applying exactly what the question states.
Showing your working
Mathematics Paper 2 (Subjective) is worth 100 marks and gives marks for the steps, not only the answer. Write each line clearly: state the formula or rule, substitute the numbers, then simplify.
If the question carries units, carry them through to the final line.
Worked Paper-2 example: premium and an average clause
A factory's machinery is worth RM250,000 but is insured for a sum insured of only RM200,000 under a fire policy carrying an average (co-insurance) clause. The annual premium rate is RM6.50 per RM1,000 of the sum insured.
(a) Calculate the annual premium. (b) A fire causes RM90,000 of damage.
Using the average clause, calculate the amount the insurer will pay.
- (a) State the rule: premium = (sum insured ÷ 1,000) × rate per RM1,000.
- Substitute: premium = (200,000 ÷ 1,000) × 6.50.
- Simplify: = 200 × 6.50 = RM1,300.
- (b) State the rule: payout = (sum insured ÷ property value) × loss.
- Substitute: payout = (200,000 ÷ 250,000) × 90,000.
- Reduce the fraction first: 200,000 ÷ 250,000 = 0.8 (four-fifths).
- Compute: = 0.8 × 90,000 = RM72,000.
- Answer: annual premium = RM1,300; the insurer pays RM72,000.
How the marks are allocated line by line
Picture a 6-mark scheme for the worked example. Part (a) carries 3 marks: 1 for stating premium = (sum insured ÷ 1,000) × rate, 1 for the correct substitution (200,000 ÷ 1,000) × 6.50, and 1 for the answer RM1,300.
Part (b) carries 3 marks: 1 for the average rule (sum insured ÷ value) × loss, 1 for the substitution (200,000 ÷ 250,000) × 90,000, and 1 for RM72,000 with units. Read this the other way round: three of the six marks sit in lines that contain no final answer at all, so a candidate who writes only '1300' and '72000' forfeits half the marks even when both numbers are correct.
Source:SPM: Format Pentaksiran mulai 2021, Matematik (1449)
Frequently asked questions
How many marks is a two-part insurance question usually worth, and how are they split?
A structured Paper 2 item like this typically carries about five to seven marks, spread across each stated rule, each substitution and each final answer with units. Roughly half the marks reward the working itself, so a bare pair of numbers with no steps can only ever score part of the total.
Should I write RM and units on every line or just the final answer?
Attach RM to each money line and always to the final answer. Markers look for the unit on the answer line, and an unlabelled '72000' can be read as incomplete.
It costs a second to write and it protects the accuracy mark, so make the final line read RM72,000 in full.
If part (b) depends on part (a) and I got (a) wrong, do I lose everything?
No. Examiners apply follow-through: if your method in (b) is correct but uses a wrong figure carried from (a), you still earn the method marks for (b).
That is one more reason to lay every step out clearly instead of hiding the working inside the calculator.