Accident :: An event or occurrence which is unforeseen and unintended.

 

Accident And Health Insurance :: Coverage for accidental injury, accidental death, and related health expenses. Benefits will pay for preventative services, medical expenses, and catastrophic care, with limits.

 

Accident Insurance  :: Insurance cover of the loss of any limbs or eyes, etc. in the event of an accident. It is also generally covers compensation to the policyholder’s dependents in the event of death. 

 

Accident year :: An accident year grouping of claims means that all the claims relating to events that occurred in a 12 month period are grouped together, irrespective of when they are actually reported or paid and irrespective of the year in which the period of cover commenced.

 

Accidental Bodily Injury :: Injury to the body as the result of an accident.

 

Accidental Death Benefit :: An endorsement that pays the beneficiary an additional benefit if the insured dies from an accident.

 

Accord and Satisfaction  :: When one party has discharged its obligation under a contract, it may elect to release the other party from its obligations. When this is done in return for a new consideration, the release is known as accord and satisfaction. 

 

Accounts Receivable (Debtors) Insurance :: Indemnifies for losses that are due to an inability to collect from open commercial account debtors because records have been destroyed by an insured peril.

 

Act of God  :: Event caused by nature that is so unpredictable as to be unavoidable, for example, the timing and location of earthquakes or floods. Acts of God are normally insured against as a matter of course. 

 

Actual Cash Value :: A form of insurance that pays damages equal to the replacement value of damaged property minus depreciation.

 

Actual Total Loss :: Insured item that has been lost or completely destroyed. The full insured value is payable by the insurer.

 

Actuary  :: A person professionally trained in the technical aspects of pensions, insurance and related fields. The actuary estimates how much money must be contributed to an insurance or pension fund in order to provide future funds. 

 

Additional insured  :: An assured party specifically named under an insurance policy that is not automatically included as an insured under the policy of another, but whom the named insured’s policy provides a certain degree of protection. (e.g. bankers or financial institutions) 

 

Additional Insureds :: Persons who have an insurable interest in the property/person covered in a policy and who are covered against the losses outlined in the policy. They usually receive less coverage than the primary named insured.

 

Adverse selection :: The tendency of those exposed to a higher risk to seek more insurance coverage than those at a lower risk. Insurers react either by charging higher premiums or not insuring at all. In the case of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, adverse selection concentrates risk instead of spreading it. Insurance. works best when risk is shared among large numbers of policyholders.

 

Affreightment  :: Carriage of goods by sea. 

 

Agent  :: An insurance company representative licensed by the IRDA negotiates or effects contracts of insurance, and provides service to the policyholder for the insurer. 

 

Aggregate Deductible :: A type of deductible that applies for an entire year in which the insured absorbs all losses until the deductible level is reached, at which point the insurer pays for all loses over the specified amount.

 

Aggregate Limits :: A yearly limit, rather than a per occurrence limit. Once an insurance company has paid up to the limit, it will pay no more during that year.

 

Aleatory Contract :: A legal contract in which the outcome depends on an uncertain event. Insurance contracts are aleatory in nature.

 

All-risks Policy  :: Insurance policy that covers personal possessions against loss or damage, usually anywhere in the country. All- risks policies are frequently extended to cover possessions in other parts of the world, and are therefore often used to insure small moveable items. Despite the term ‘’all-risks’’ there is usually some important exclusion. 

 

Arbitration  :: A form of alternative dispute resolution where an unbiased person or panel renders an opinion as to responsibility for or extent of a loss. 

 

Arson  :: The willful and malicious burning of, or attempt to burn, any structure or other property, often with criminal or fraudulent intent. 

 

Assignment  :: Legal transfer of a property, right or obligation from one party to another. 

 

Assurance  :: Insurance that provides for an event that will certainly happen (such as death), as opposed to an event that may happen. There are many types of assurance policies such as endowment assurance, life assurance, and so on. 

 

Assured  :: Person who received the proceeds of an assurance policy when the policy matures or the person assured dies. 

 

Average Clause (Condition of average)  :: In marine and commercial insurance and some fire insurance and some fire insurance policies, a clause in the policy that stipulates certain items shall be subject to average if there is underinsurance.