Glossary

Insurance terms, without the shorthand.

A starting point for reading a quote, policy, invoice, certificate, or renewal request. The contract still controls.

Actual cash value: A valuation method that may account for depreciation. The policy's definition controls.
Additional insured: A person or organization included as an insured under policy wording or endorsement for a specified relationship or operation.
Admitted insurer: An insurer authorized under the applicable state's admitted insurance framework.
Aggregate limit: The maximum the policy will pay for specified covered losses during the applicable period, subject to its terms.
Binder: Temporary evidence of insurance issued by an authorized party, subject to its exact terms and expiration.
Business income: Coverage that may address qualifying income loss and continuing expenses after covered physical loss, subject to the policy.
Certificate of insurance: A summary of certain policy information; it does not replace or amend the policy.
Coinsurance: A property-policy provision that can affect loss payment when required insurance-to-value conditions are not met.
Declarations: Policy pages identifying key insureds, terms, locations, limits, forms, and premium information.
Deductible: The amount or basis applied before covered loss payment, as defined by the policy.
Endorsement: A document that adds, removes, or changes policy terms.
Excess liability: Liability coverage that applies above scheduled underlying limits, subject to its own terms.
Experience modification: A workers’ compensation factor derived under applicable rating rules from payroll and loss experience.
General liability: Coverage that may address specified bodily injury, property damage, and other liability allegations, subject to the form.
Indemnity: Payment or obligation intended to compensate for a covered loss under applicable terms.
Loss run: A carrier-generated report describing claims and their current paid, reserve, incurred, and status information.
Market access: A broker's available path to seek terms from a carrier or wholesale market, subject to relationship, jurisdiction, appetite, and underwriting.
Named insured: A person or entity identified as an insured on the policy declarations or endorsement.
Non-admitted insurer: An insurer not admitted for the state transaction that may participate through permitted surplus-lines procedures.
Ordinance or law: Coverage that may address specified increased costs caused by enforcement of building laws after covered loss.
Premium: The amount charged for insurance, including installments or adjustments as applicable.
Protective safeguard: A required protection such as a sprinkler or alarm whose maintenance can be a policy condition.
Replacement cost: A valuation approach based on replacing damaged property without depreciation, subject to policy conditions.
Reserve: A claim administrator's estimate of amounts that may be needed for a claim; it is not the same as a paid amount.
Surplus-lines tax: A transaction tax or charge applied under applicable surplus-lines rules; treatment varies by jurisdiction.
Underwriting: The insurer's process for evaluating risk, eligibility, terms, limits, pricing, and conditions.
Vacancy: A policy-defined occupancy condition that can change coverage or underwriting; the policy definition controls.

Definitions are general. A policy’s definitions, conditions, exclusions, endorsements, and applicable law determine a specific meaning.

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