Glossary Flashcards
Accelerated Benefits
Riders attached to life insurance policies that allow death benefits to be used to cover nursing or convalescent home expenses.
Accidental Death Benefits
A policy rider that states that the cause of death will be analyzed to determine if it complies with the policy description of accidental death.
Accidental Death Insurance
An insurance policy that provides payment if the insured’s death is the result of an accident.
Accumulation Period
The time before an annuitant’s retirement during which the annuitant is making payments or investments in an annuity.
Actual Cash Value (ACV)
The required amount to pay damages or for property loss. This amount is calculated based on the property’s current replacement value minus depreciation.
Adhesion
A contract offered on a “take-it-or leave-it” basis by an insurer, in which the insured’s only option is to either accept or reject the contract. Any ambiguities in the contract will be settled in favor of the insured.
Adjustable Life
Life insurance that permits changes in the face amount, premium amount, period of protection, and the duration of the premium payment period.
Adjuster
A representative of an insurance company who investigates and acts on the behalf of the company to obtain agreements for the amount of the insurance claim.
Administrator
An individual appointed by a court as a fiduciary to settle the financial affairs and estate of a deceased person.
Admitted (Authorized) Insurer
An insurance company authorized and licensed to transact business in a particular state.
Adverse Selection
The tendency of risks with higher probability of loss to purchase and maintain insurance more often than the risks who present lower probability.
Agency
An insurance sales office or company.
Agent
An individual who is licensed to sell, negotiate, or effect insurance
contracts on behalf of the insurer.
Agent Appointment
The authorization of an agent to act for or represent an insurer
Agent’s Authority
Special powers granted to an agent by his or her agency contract.
Aleatory
A contract in which participating parties exchange unequal amounts. Insurance contracts are aleatory in that the amount the insured will pay in premiums is unequal to the amount the insurer will pay in the event of a loss.
Alien Insurer
An insurance company that is incorporated outside the United States.
Annual Statement
A detailed financial report that an insurance company must submit every year to the insurance department of state(s) in which it conducts business.
Annuity
A contract that provides income for a specified period of years, or for life.
Apparent Authority
The appearance or the assumption of authority based on the actions, words, or deeds of the principal or because of circumstances the principal created.
Applicant
A person making application for, or offering himself, herself or another to be insured under an insurance contract.
Application
A document that provides information for underwriting purposes. After the policy is issued, any unanswered questions are considered waived by the insurer.
Assignment
The transfer of ownership rights of a life insurance policy from one person to another.
Attained Age
The age of the insured at a determined date.
Attending Physician’s Statement (APS)
A statement usually obtained from the
applicant’s doctor.
Authorized (Admitted) Insurer
An insurance company authorized and licensed to transact business in a particular state.
Avoidance
A method of dealing with risk by deliberately keeping away from it (e.g. if a person wanted to avoid the risk of being killed in an airplane crash, he or she might choose to never fly in a plane).
Basic Illustration
A ledger or proposal used in the sale of a life insurance policy that shows both guaranteed and nonguaranteed elements.
Beneficiary
The person who receives the proceeds from the policy when the insured dies.
Birthday Rule
The method of determining primary coverage for a dependent child, under which the plan of the parent whose birthday occurs first in the calendar year is designated as primary.
Broker
An individual who represents an insured in the process of purchasing and negotiating a contract of insurance.
Buy-Sell Agreement
A legal contract that determines what will be done with a business in the event that an owner dies or becomes disabled.
Buyer’s Guide
A booklet that describes insurance policies and concepts, and provides general information to help an applicant make an informed decision.
Cash Value
The amount to which a policyowner is entitled if the policy is surrendered before maturity.
Certificate
A statement or booklet that confirms that a policy has been written and that describes the coverage in general.
Certificate of Authority
A document that authorizes a company to start conducting business and specifies the kind(s) of insurance a company can transact. It is illegal for an insurance company to transact insurance without this certificate.
Certificate of Insurance
A legal document that indicates that an insurance policy has been issued, and that states both the amounts and types of insurance provided.
Claim
A request for payment of the benefits provided by an insurance contract.
Coercion
An unfair trade practice in which an agent uses physical or mental
force with the intent of inducing an applicant to purchase insurance.
Coinsurance Clause
A provision that states that the insurer and the insured will share the losses covered by the policy in a proportion agreed upon in advance.
Commingling
A practice in which a person in a fiduciary capacity illegally mixes his/her personal funds with funds he/she is holding in trust.
Commission
The payment made by insurers to agents or brokers for the sale and service of policies.
Commissioner
The chief executive and administrative officer of a state insurance department (in some states, known as Director or Superintendent).
Concealment
The withholding of known facts that, if material, can void a contract.
Conditional Contract
A type of an agreement in which both parties must perform certain duties and follow rules of conduct to make the contract enforceable.
Consideration
The binding force in a contract that requires something of value to be exchanged for the transfer of risk. The consideration on the part of the insured is the representations made in the application and the payment of premium; the consideration on the part of the insurer is the promise to pay in the event of loss.
Consumer Report
A written and /or oral statement regarding a consumer’s credit, character, reputation, or habits collected by a reporting agency from employment records, credit reports, and other public sources.
Contract
An agreement between two or more parties enforceable by law.
Contributory
A group insurance plan that requires the employees to pay part of
the premium.
Controlled Business
An entity that obtains and possesses a license solely for the purpose of writing business on the owner, immediate family, relatives, employer or employees.
Convertible
A policy that may be exchanged for another type of policy by contractual provision, at the option of the policyowner, and without evidence of insurability (i.e. term life changed to a form of permanent life).
Countersignature
The act of signing an insurance policy by a licensed resident agent.
Coverage
The inclusion of causes of loss (perils) which are covered within a scope of a policy.
Credit Life Insurance
A special type of coverage written to pay off the balance of a loan in the event of the death of the debtor.
Death Benefit
The amount payable upon the death of the person whose life is insured.
Decreasing Term
A type of life insurance that features a level premium and a death benefit that decreases each year over the duration of the policy.
Defamation
An unfair trade practice in which one agent or insurer makes an injurious statement about another with the intent of harming the person’s or company’s reputation.
Dependent
A person who relies on another for support and maintenance.
Director
The chief executive and administrative officer of the Insurance
Department (in some states, known as Commissioner or Superintendent).
Disclosure
An act of identifying the name of the producer, representative or firm, limited insurance representative, or temporary insurance producer on any policy solicitation.
Domestic Insurer
An insurance company that conducts business in the state of incorporation.
Domicile of Insurer
Insurer’s location of incorporation and the legal ability to write business in a state.
Earned Premium
The amount of the premium for which the policy protection has been given.
Effective Date
The date when an insurance policy begins (also known as the inception date).
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
The act that stipulates federal standards for private pension plans.
Endorsement
A form changing the provisions of and attached to a life insurance policy (also known as a rider).
Endow
To reach the maturity date or time at which the face amount equals cash values.
Estoppel
A legal impediment to denying a fact or restoring a right that has been previously waived.
Excess Insurance
Insurance that pays over and above or in addition to basic policy limits.
Exclusions
Causes of loss, exposures, conditions, etc. listed in the policy for which the benefits will not be paid.
Expiration
The date specified in the policy as the date of termination.
Express Authority
The authority granted to an agent by means of the agent’s
written contract.
Extension of Benefits
A provision that allows coverage to continue beyond the policy’s expiration date for employees who are not actively at work due to disability or who have dependents hospitalized on that date. This coverage continues only until the employee returns to work or the dependent leaves the hospital.
Face
The first page of a policy.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
A federal law that established procedures consumer- reporting agencies must follow in order to ensure that records are confidential, accurate, relevant and properly used.
Fiduciary
An agent/broker who handles insurer’s funds in a trust capacity.
Fixed Annuity
An annuity that offers fixed payments and guarantees a minimum
rate of interest to be credited to the purchase payment or payments.
Flexible Premium
A policy feature that allows the policyholder to vary premium payments in the amount and/or timing.
Foreign Insurer
An insurance company that is incorporated in another state.
Fraternal Benefit Societies
Life or health insurance companies formed to provide insurance for members of an affiliated lodge, religious organization, or fraternal organization with a representative form of government.
Fraud
Intentional misrepresentation or deceit with the intent to induce a person to part with something of value.