Valuation of mortgage insurance contracts with counterparty default risk: Reduced-form approach

Abstract

In the recent subprime mortgage crisis, which has caused banks and insurance companies to go bankrupt or into acquisition, the lender and insurer have exhibited not only correlated defaults when exposed to common risk factors but also counterparty default risk, which is triggered by mortgage defaults. Given the correlated defaults and the counterparty default risk, we use the reduced-form approach to derive the closed-form formulas of mortgage insurance contracts with premium refunds, annual premiums and upfront premiums. Regardless of the nature of the premium structures, the numerical analysis with parameter calibration demonstrates that both the correlated defaults and the counterparty default risk significantly impact mortgage insurance premiums, particularly in long-term mortgage loans. Copyright © ASTIN Bulletin 2014.