Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of risk of loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, perhaps the devastating loss. The insurer is a company selling insurance, the insured is the person or moral purchasing insurance. The insurance rate is a factor in determining the amount to pay for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium. Risk management, the practice of assessment and risk control, developed as a field of study and practice.