Medical Expenses: Reasonable charges for medical, surgical, x-ray, dental, ambulance, hospital, professional nursing, prosthetic devices, and funeral expenses. What is considered reasonable is outlined in a policy.

Medical Payments, Auto: Coverage, which is optional, under an auto policy to pay for medical expenses for bodily injury caused by an auto accident, regardless of fault. Coverage for persons other than the named insured and his or her family members is typically restricted to circumstances when they are occupants of the insured auto

Medical Payments, General Liability: A general liability coverage that reimburses others, regardless of fault, for medical or funeral expenses incurred as a result of bodily injury or death sustained by an accident

Mexico Coverage: Coverage which is sometimes provided under automobile policies for the operation of an insured motor vehicle within Mexico, usually limited to a stated number of miles from the U.S. border

Minimum Premium: The lowest amount of premium to be charged for providing a particular insurance coverage

Misrepresentation: The act of knowingly presenting false information.

Mobile Equipment: Equipment such as earthmovers, tractors, diggers, farm machinery, forklifts, etc., that even when self-propelled, are not considered as automobiles for insurance purposes

Monopolistic State Funds: States or Jurisdictions where an employer must obtain workers' compensation insurance from a state fund or qualify as a self-insurer, as is allowed in five of the states: North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Mortality Rate: The number of deaths in a group of people, usually expressed as deaths per thousand.

Mortality Table: A table showing the incidence of death at specified age groups.

Mortgage Clause: Property insurance provisions granting protection for the mortgagee named in the policy. It establishes that loss to mortgaged property is payable to the insured and to the mortgagee named in the policy

 

Named Perils Coverage: A property insurance term referring to exact causes of loss specifically listed as covered

National Flood Insurance Program: A federally funded program established to make flood insurance available to properties located in participating communities National Flood Insurance Program: A federally funded program established to make flood insurance available to properties located in participating communities

Non-admitted Insurer: An insurance company that is not licensed to do business in a specific state. The insurers may write coverage through an excess and surplus lines broker that is licensed in these jurisdictions

Non-owned Automobile: In commercial auto policies, coverage for autos that are used in connection with the named insured's business but are neither owned, leased, hired, rented or borrowed by the named insured. The term specifically applies to vehicles owned by employees and used for company business

Non-subscription: A Workers' Compensation term used in Texas that refers to employers who choose to be out of the workers' compensation system. Firms that are proven negligent in causing a worker's injury, can be held liable in tort, since non-subscribing employers waive the traditional common law defenses available to employers subject to workers' compensation laws

Original Age: The age you were when you bought an insurance policy.

Other Insured Rider: The temporary addition to an insurance policy, usually a member of the direct family.

Ownership: All rights, benefits and privileges under life insurance policies are controlled by their owners. Policy owners may or may not be the insured. Ownership may be assigned or transferred by written request of current owner.

Occupational Hazard: A condition in the work place that increases the chances of the an accident, sickness, or death. It usually will mean higher premiums.

Occurrence: A continual, gradual or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions. General liability policies insure liability for bodily injury or property damage that is caused by an occurrence

Package Policy: A policy providing several different coverages combined into one policy. Refers to a policy providing both general liability insurance and property insurance

Payroll Limitation: A limit on the amount of payroll for certain classifications used for the development of premium

Peril: Cause of loss such as fire, windstorm, collision, etc.

Personal Auto Policy (PAP): A policy insuring private-passenger autos owned by individuals

Personal Injury: A General Liability coverage for insurable offenses that cause harm, other than bodily injury, such as false arrest, detention or imprisonment, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction, slander, libel and invasion of privacy

Personal Injury Protection (PIP): An automobile insurance coverage mandated by law in some states. The statutes typically require insurers to provide or offer to provide first-party benefits for medical expenses, loss of income, funeral expenses and similar expenses without regard to fault

Personal Property: All tangible property not classified as real property such as contents

Policy: The printed document given to the insured, outlining the terms and conditions of the Insurance coverage.

Policy Fee: A one-time charge per policy that does not change with the size of the premium

Policy Holder: The person who owns a life insurance policy. This is usually the insured person, but it may also be a relative of the insured, a partnership or a corporation.

Policy Period: The term or duration of a policy including the effective and expiration dates

Pollutant: An irritant or contaminant, whether in solid, liquid, or gaseous form, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals and waste

Preferred Risk: A positive characteristic of someone seeking to be insured. Usually means a better likely hood for long life, and usually means a lower premium.

Premises: The location where coverage applies

Premises-Operations: A category of hazard ordinarily insured by a general liability policy which is composed of those exposures to loss that fall outside the defined 'products-completed operations hazard,' including liability for injury or damage arising out of the insured's premises or out of the insured's business operations while such operations are in progress

Premium: The agreed upon, payment made to keep an insurance policy in force, usually a monthly payment.

Premium Flexibility: The policy holder's right to vary the amount of premium paid each
month.

Primary Beneficiary: In life insurance, the beneficiary designated by the insured as the first to receive policy benefits.

Primary Policy: The insurance policy that pays first when you have a loss that's covered by more than one policy.

Pro Rata Cancellation: The cancellation of an insurance policy with the return premium being the full proportion of premium for the unexpired term of the policy, without penalty for early cancellation

Product: Items manufactured, sold, handled, distributed or disposed of by the named insured or others involved with the named insured in the course of their business. Includes containers, parts and equipment, product warranties and provision of or failure to provide instructions and warnings

Product Liability: The liability for bodily injury or property damage a merchant or manufacturer may incur as a consequence of some defect in the product sold or manufactured

Products-Completed Operations: General Liability coverage for liability arising out of the insured's products or business operations conducted away from the insured's premises once those operations have been completed

Professional Liability: Coverage designed to protect professionals such as physicians and real estate brokers, against liability incurred as a result of errors and omissions in performing professional services

Property Damage: In the general liability policy, a physical injury to property, resulting in the loss of use

Property Insurance: First-party insurance for real and personal property against physical loss or damage

Provisions: Details of an insurance policy which explain the benefits, conditions and other features of the insurance contract.

 

Real Property: Real estate including buildings and vegetation

Re-entry Option: An option in a renewable term life policy under which the policy owner is guaranteed, at the end of the term, to be able to renew his or her coverage without evidence of insurability, at a premium rate specified in the policy.

Reinstatement: Putting a lapsed policy back in force by producing satisfactory evidence of insurability and paying any past-due premiums required.

Renewal Policy: A policy issued to replace an expiring policy

Rents or Rental Value Insurance: Insurance that reimburses a building owner for loss of rental income due to damage by an insured peril

Replacement: A new policy written to take the place of one currently in force.

Representation: Statements made by applicants on their applications for insurance that they represent as being substantially true to the best of their knowledge and belief but that are not warranted as exact in every detail.

Return Premium: The amount of premium due the insured should the actual cost of a policy be less than the insured previously paid

Rider: An attachment to a policy that modifies its conditions by expanding or restricting benefits or excluding certain conditions from coverage.

Risk: The chance of injury, damage, or loss.

Robbery: Theft of property while force is used or threatened

Secondary Beneficiary: An alternate beneficiary designated to receive payment, usually in the event the original beneficiary predeceases the insured.

Short-Term Cancellation: Cancellation of an insurance policy prior to the expiration date in which a penalty in the form of a less than full pro-rata premium refund is allowed

Single Premium Policy: A whole life policy for people who want to buy a policy for a one-time lump sum, and then be covered for the rest of their lives without paying any additional premiums.

Special Causes of Loss Form: A cause of loss form providing coverage from all causes of loss unless specifically excluded or limited

Specified Causes of Loss Coverage: Auto physical damage coverage only for losses caused by the perils listed in the policy

Sprinkler Leakage Coverage: Coverage for property damage caused by the accidental discharge or leakage of water from automatic sprinkler systems or other fire prevention devices

Surplus Lines Insurance: Insurance written by insurers not licensed in the states where the risks are located and placed with such insurers under the surplus line laws of the various states. Before such placements can be made through specially licensed surplus line agents and brokers, state laws generally require evidence reported before some predetermined future date ('sunset')

Time Element Insurance: A term referring to property coverage for loss of earnings or income resulting from the inability to put damaged property to its normal use

Term Insurance: Protection during limited number of years; expiring without value if the
insured survives the stated period, which may be one or more years but usually is five to twenty years, because such periods usually cover the needs for temporary protection.

Term: Period for which the policy runs. In life insurance, this is to the end of the term period for term insurance.

Third-Party Owner: A policy owner who is not the prospective insured. The policy owner and the insured may be, and often are the same person. If for example, you apply for and are issued an insurance policy on your life, then you are both the policy owner and the insured and may be known as the policy owner-insured. If, however, your mother applies for and is issued a policy on your life, then she is the policy owner and you are the insured.

Transit Coverage: Coverage on the insured's property while in transit from one location to another, over land

Umbrella Liability Policy: A policy designed to provide additional protection against catastrophic losses covered under liability policies, such as the business auto policy, commercial general liability policy, watercraft and aircraft liability policies and employers liability coverage. It provides excess limits when the limits of the underlying liability policies are used up by the payment of claims and it drops down and picks up where the underlying policy leaves off when the aggregate limit of the underlying policy in question is exhausted by the payment of claims. It also provides protection against some claims not covered by the underlying policies, subject to a self-insured retention

Underinsured Motorists Coverage: Provides coverage for bodily injury, and in some states property damage, for losses incurred by an insured when an accident is caused by a motorist who does not have sufficient insurance limits

Underlying Coverage: The insurance or coverage in place on the same risk that will respond to loss before the excess policy is called on to pay any portion of the claim

Underwriter: Company receiving premiums and accepting responsibility for fulfilling the policy contract. Also, company employee who decides whether the company should assume a particular risk; or the agent who sells the policy

Uninsurable Risk: A person who is not acceptable for insurance due to excessive risk.

Universal Life: An interest-sensitive life insurance policy that builds cash values. The premium payer has control over how the policy is structured. He has the flexibility to eliminate the premiums (essentially pay up the policy and pay no more premiums) or have the premiums continue for life. It is a matter of juggling three variables: the assumed interest rate, the cash value and the premium payment plan. The policy is interest-sensitive, and if interest rates change from the assumed interest, it will affect the other two variables. In the past, many Universal Life Policies were structured assuming a higher interest rate then was actually received, therefore, most of them have under performed. If you have a Universal Life Policy, you should have it evaluated to see if it needs
to have the premiums adjusted to get it back on track. A fourth variable that has not been a factor but could be in the future, and the owner should be aware of, is the Mortality variable. Universal Life policies are usually structured assuming current mortality rates. The insurance companies reserve the right to change those rates.

Unearned Premium: That portion of the policy premium that represents the unexpired policy term

Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Provides coverage for bodily injury, and in some states property damage, for losses incurred by an insured when an accident is caused by a motorist who is not insured

Utility Service Interruption Coverage: Coverage for the loss to an insured due to lack of incoming electricity which was caused by damage from a covered cause of loss, such as a fire or windstorm, to property away from the insured's premises - usually the utility generating station. Also referred to as 'off-premises power coverage'

Vacancy Provision: Property insurance provision found in commercial property policies that restrict coverage in connection with buildings that have been vacant for a specified number of days, usually 60 days

Valuable Papers and Records Coverage : Coverage that pays the cost to reconstruct damaged or destroyed valuable papers and records and usually includes almost all forms of printed documents or records except money or securities; data processing programs, data and media are usually excluded
 

Waiver of Premium: Rider or provision included in most life insurance policies exempting the insured from paying premiums after he or she has been disabled for a specified period of time, usually six months.

Waiver of Subrogation: Also known as 'transfer of rights of recovery,' the relinquishment by an insurer of the right to collect from another party for damages paid on behalf of the insured

Whole Life Insurance: Life insurance that is kept in force for a person's whole life as long as the scheduled premiums are maintained. All Whole Life policies build up cash values. Most Whole Life policies are guaranteed as long as the scheduled premiums are maintained. The variable in a Whole life Policy is the dividend which could vary depending on how well the insurance is doing. If the company is doing well and the policies are not experiencing a higher mortality than projected, premiums are paid back to the policy holder in the form of dividends. Policyholders can use the cash from dividends in many ways. The three main uses are: it can be used to lower or vanish premiums, it can be used to purchase more insurance or it can be used to pay for term insurance.

Workers' Compensation: Protection which provides benefits to employees for injury or contracted disease arising out of and in the course of employment. Most states have laws which require such protection for workers and prescribe the length and amount of such benefits provided