The short-duration disclosure guidance is applicable to certain types of insurance contracts written by insurance entities, as defined in ASC 944. With the exception of the unpaid claims liability rollforward guidance, the additional disclosures pertain to short-duration insurance contracts only including most property and liability insurance contracts and certain types of accident and health insurance. The accounting classification of a contract as short- versus long-duration, rather than the settlement period or tail of the claim liability, dictates whether the claims development and related disclosures are applicable.

Life insurers may write certain types of coverages, such as group life, group long-term disability, and group short-term disability products that are classified as short duration and are therefore subject to the disclosure requirements in ASC 944-40-50-4A through ASC 944-40-50-4I. In contrast, for contracts that qualify as long-duration contracts, such as certain types of long-ter­m disability and long-term care policies that are expected to remain in force for an extended period, the claims development table and discounting disclosures described in IG 10.5.2 are not required. This is true even though the unpaid claims liabilities for these contracts may be outstanding for a long period of time, similar to short-duration claim liabilities.