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Let $Z_m$ be the discount level during policy year $m$, with $Z_0=1$. Under the usual assumption of independent successive annual accidents and repair costs with the same laws each year, the submitted-claim decision depends only on $Z_m$ and that year's cost. Consequently the conditional distribution of $Z_{m+1}$ depends on the past only through $Z_m$: this is the Markov property. The no claims discount system is therefore a time-homogeneous Discrete-time Markov chain. Stationarity of accident probabilities alone, without this independence assumption, would not by itself establish the Markov property.

At level one a claim keeps the policyholder at one, while no submitted claim moves them to two. At level two, a submitted claim moves them to one and no claim to three. At level three, a claim moves them to two and no claim keeps them at three. Thus $p_i$ in the specified transition matrix is the annual probability of a submitted claim at current level $i$, not merely of an accident. A small accident paid privately counts as no claim for these transitions.

Let $b>0$ denote the undiscounted annual premium. It is not specified numerically in the source; costs can instead be measured in units of that premium, giving $b=1$. The actual premium payments at the three levels are $b$, $b(1-\alpha )$, and $b(1-\beta )$. Compare the two future paths, assuming no further accidents, to obtain the two-year premium-loss claim threshold. From level one, a current claim leads to future levels $(1,2)$, whereas no claim leads to $(2,3)$, giving extra premiumFrom level two the two paths are $(1,2)$ and $(3,3)$, and from level three they are $(2,3)$ and $(3,3)$. HenceThese are all strictly positive. The PDF's discount fractions are $\alpha$ and $\beta$; the converted TeX has lost these factors in the percentages.

For a repair cost $X$ with the specified lognormal distribution, $\log X\sim N(\mu ,{\sigma }^2)$. Putwhere $\Phi$ is the standard normal distribution function. Conditional on an accident, the submitted-claim probability is $\mathbb{P}(X>h_i)=\overline{\Phi }(z_i)$. Multiplying by the accident probability givesSet $b=1$ for the premium-unit convention. Without a monetary premium scale, discount percentages alone cannot determine a numerical threshold for a monetary repair cost.

This nearest-neighbour Markov chain is a finite birth-death chain. Its stationary distribution $\pi$ satisfies the endpoint balance equationsThese detailed balance equations also imply the middle-state balance equation. The three-level no claims discount equilibrium is thereforewhereSince each $p_i$ lies strictly between zero and one, this is an irreducible Markov chain. Positive holding probabilities at the endpoints also make it an aperiodic Markov chain. Its unique stationary distribution is the limiting distribution even from the initial level one, and gives the steady-state proportions for a homogeneous population of such policyholders.

A submitted claim at level one conditions the repair cost on $X>h_1$. The accident probability cancels in this conditional expectation. For $z_1=(\log h_1-\mu )/\sigma$, the truncated lognormal moment follows by completing the square:Dividing by $\mathbb{P}(X>h_1)=\overline{\Phi }(z_1)$ yields the expected size of an actual submitted claim:The unconditional expected amount paid per year from level one would instead multiply its tail first moment by $p$; it is not the conditional claim size requested here.