Peipetual insurance is written exclusively by eleven mutual companies operating in six states. The basic concept of perpetual insurance is that an investment return on a single premium deposit will continue a policy in force "forever," without payment of an additional premium. This unique concept in property insurance has resulted in company operations and characteristics that are different when compared with term fire insurance. An analysis of these differences is the primary purpose of this paper. The important areas in which perpetual insurance differs from the usual forms of coverage are the policy provisions, underwriting, class of business written, rate making, investments, dividends, and taxation. The analysis of these differences provides important implications for insurance consumers and insurers. Perpetual fire insurance continues to be written by several of the oldest insurance companies in America. Although this concept is practically unknown to most insurance people, it was first written nearly three hundred years ago and still persists as a small segment of the nation's fire insurance business. The basic idea underlying the perpetual insurance scheme is that an investment return on a large single premium deposit will continue a policy in force "forever," without payment of an additional premium. This, of course, represents a completely different and unique concept in the field of property insurance. It necessitates and has resulted in company operations and characteristics that in many respects are unusual when compared with term fire insurance. Authors Dick L. Rottman, Ph.D., C.L.U., C.P.C.U., is Associate Professor of Finance, School of Business and Public Administration, University of Missouri, Columbia. This paper was presented at the A.R.I.A. 1968 Annual Meeting. The assistance of the University of Missouri School of Business and Public Administration Research Center is gratefully acknowledged. in risk and insurance, however, have largely neglected this area. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to analyze perpetual fire insurance with primary emphasis on current operations.