Adjuster
A representative of the insurer who seeks to determine the extent of the insurer's liability for loss when a claim is submitted.
Annuity
An agreement by an insurer to make periodic payments that continue during the survival of the annuitant(s) or for a specified period.
Broker
Insurance salesperson that searches the marketplace in the interest of clients, not insurance companies.
Casualty
Liability or loss resulting from an accident.
Claim
A demand made by the insured, or the insured's beneficiary, for payment of the benefits as provided by the policy.
Earned Premium
The amount of the premium that has been paid for in advance that has been "earned" by virtue of the fact that time has passed without claim. A three-year policy that has been paid in advance and is one year old would have only partly earned the premium.
Indemnity
Restoration to the victim of a loss by payment, repair or replacement.
Liability
Broadly, any legally enforceable obligation. The term is most commonly used in a pecuniary sense.
Lloyd's
Generally refers to Lloyd's of London, England, an institution within which individual underwriters accept or reject the risks offered to them. The Lloyd's Corp. provides the support facility for their activities.
Net Premium
The amount of premium minus the agent's commission. Also, the premium necessary to cover only anticipated losses, before loading to cover other expenses.
Occurrence
An event that results in an insured loss. In some lines of business, such as liability, an occurrence is distinguished from accident in that the loss doesn't have to be sudden and fortuitous and can result from continuous or repeated exposure which results in bodily injury or property damage neither expected nor intended by the insured.
Premium
The price of insurance protection for a specified risk for a specified period of time.
Reinsurance
In effect, insurance that an insurance company buys for its own protection. The risk of loss is spread so a disproportionately large loss under a single policy doesn't fall on one company.
Renewal
The automatic re-establishment of in-force status effected by the payment of another premium.
Subrogation
The right of an insurer who has taken over another's loss also to take over the other person's right to pursue remedies against a third party.
Underwriter
The individual trained in evaluating risks and determining rates and coverages for them. Also, an insurer.
Underwriting
The process of selecting risks for insurance and classifying them according to their degrees of insurability so that the appropriate rates may be assigned. The process also includes rejection of those risks that do not qualify.
Valuation
A calculation of the policy reserve in life insurance. Also, a mathematical analysis of the financial condition of a pension plan.
Viator
A terminally ill person who sells his or her life insurance policy.