1.1 At the 1984 seminar of the Institute's General Insurance Study Group the author presented a draft of some guidance notes which were intended to be the starting point for establishing a framework of recognized good practice for United Kingdom actuaries working in general insurance. The draft. amended to take into account comments made at and subsequent to that seminar. appears as Appendix A, with the title “Notes on recommended practice (abbreviated to NORP) for actuarial reporting in general insurance”. It was felt that in presenting the notes to the profession at large. an introductory paper would be helpful, not only in explaining some of the issues covered in the proposed NORP but in discussing more generally the role of the actuary in general insurance and what an actuary should be prepared to advise on.