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Insurance Glossary

Insurance Glossary

Abutting Coverage

When you have two or more policies providing the same coverage at the same time.

Accelerated Death Benefits (ADB)

When the holder of a life insurance policy is terminally ill and needs the money for medical and living costs, they may request an accelerated death benefit. This pays the benefit of the life policy before death.

Accident Control

Inspection and engineering work done to help remove potential causes of loss. Loss prevention is also referred to as safety engineering, accident prevention, accident control, or loss prevention.

Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D)

A type of life insurance that pays in the case of the death or dismemberment of the insured from an accidental cause.

Accounts Receivable Coverage

This coverage provides protection for the following losses:

All sums due you from customers, providing you are unable to effect collection thereof as a direct result of loss or damage to records of accounts receivable.

Interest charges on any loan to offset impaired collections pending repayment of such sums made uncollectable by such loss or damage.

Collection expense in excess of normal collection cost made necessary because of such loss or damage.

Other expense, when reasonably incurred by you in re-establishing records of accounts receivable following loss or damage.

Actual Cash Value (ACV)

"Actual Cash Value" is the replacement cost of property damaged or destroyed at the time of loss, with deduction for depreciation. Actual cash value cannot exceed the applicable limit of liability shown in the declarations of the policy, nor the amount it would cost to repair or replace such property with material of like kind and quality within a reasonable amount of time after a loss.

Additional Insured

An individual or entity that is not automatically included as an insured under the policy of another, but for whom the named insured's policy provides a certain degree of protection. An endorsement is typically required to effect additional insured status. The named insured's impetus for providing additional insured status to others may be a desire to protect the other party because of a close relationship with that party (e.g., employees or members of an insured club) or to comply with a contractual agreement requiring the named insured to do so (e.g., customers or owners of property leased by the named insured).

Additional Named Insured

1. An individual or entity, other than the first named insured, identified as an insured in the policy declarations or an addendum to the policy declarations.

2. An individual or entity who is added to a policy with the status of named insured after the policy is written. Such an individual or entity would have the same rights and responsibilities as an individual or entity named as an insured in the policy declarations (other than those rights and responsibilities reserved to the first named insured). In this sense the term can be contrasted with additional insured, an individual or entity added to a policy as an insured but not as a named insured. The term additional named insured has not acquired a uniformly agreed-upon meaning within the insurance industry, and use of the term in the two different senses defined above often produces confusion in requests for additional insured status between contracting parties.

Additions and Alterations Coverage

Additions and Alterations coverage protects any additions, alterations, and improvements you make to your unit, for up to 10% of your contents limit. This coverage can be increased.

Advertising Injury Liability Coverage

"Advertising Injury" means injury rising out of an offense committed in the course of your advertising activities, if such injury rises out of libel, slander, defamation, violation of right of privacy, piracy, unfair competition or infringement of copyright, title or slogan.

Aggregate

A limit in an insurance policy stipulating the most it will pay for all covered losses sustained during a specified period of time, usually one year. Aggregate limits are commonly included in liability policies. While not often used in property insurance, aggregates are sometimes included with respect to certain catastrophic exposures, e.g., earthquake and flood.

The dollar amount of reinsurance coverage during one specified period, usually 12 months, for all reinsurance losses sustained under a treaty during such period.

Agreed Amount Endorsement

This endorsement is an agreement made by the insurance company wherein it waives the coinsurance clause on the specified property. As long as this endorsement is in effect, there would be no coinsurance penalty at the time of a claim.

By combining an Agreed Amount Endorsement with a Replacement Cost Endorsement (see separate explanation), you can obtain an unusually high quality of insurance coverage.

Aircraft Coverage

Typically sold as a package policy comprised of physical damage (hull), personal injury and liability coverages. Protects from the risks associated with owning and operating an aircraft.

Alienated Premises Exclusion

This exclusion eliminates coverage for property damage liability to premises alienated (i.e., sold) by you. For example, you own a lot and build a house on it. After the house is completed and sold, a subcontractor's faulty wiring causes the house to burn. The buyer, or his/her insurance company, sues you for the cost of repairing or rebuilding the house. There is no coverage for this exposure under standard liabilty policies.

All-Risk Insurance

An insurance policy that covers everything not specifically excluded. Most often associated with property coverage. An All-Risk policy is the opposite of a Named Perils insurance policy.

Appurtenant Structures

Structures that are also on the property covered by an insurance policy. Examples might be a storage shed or barn. Most property policies have a limit they will pay for other structures based on a percentage of the main buildings value.

Assigned Risk

A method to provide insurance to the uninsurable. In mandatory insurance states, everyone must have insurance regardless of their risk or record. These states require that each company writing insurance in their state must take a number of clients that they would not insure otherwise.

Automobile Coverage

Any insurance pertaining to the use or ownership of a vehicle. Common coverages are liability, physical damage and personal injury.

Aviation Insurance

Typically sold as a package policy comprised of physical damage (hull), personal injury and liability coverages. Protects from the risks associated with owning and operating an aircraft.

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