A

Accelerated payment of basic cover
This occurs when the basic cover amount is paid earlier than death or maturity. For example the policy may provide for the full payment of the death benefit in the event of total and permanent disability.

Accidental death and TPD (total & permanent disability)
A supplementary benefit that grants an additional amount of money over and above the normal death benefit on a life insurance policy. This is payable only if death is the result of an accident, or if the insured loses one or more limbs or suffers from the loss of eyesight as a result of an accident.

Accidental death benefit rider (ADB rider)
A supplementary benefit that grants an additional amount of money over and above the normal death benefit on a life insurance policy. This is payable only if death results from an accident.

Accumulated value
The monetary worth of a policy. This would equal the sum of all premiums paid, net of expenses & charges, accumulated with interest. Also refer to policy account.

Actuarial assumptions
Assumptions that actuaries make in regard to future mortality, sickness, expenses, interest, and other parameters necessary for calculating rates of premium.

Actuarial department
The department in an insurance company responsible for estimating risk, premium rates, life expectancies, etc., and doing research to develop new insurance products.

Actuarial valuation
The valuation of a life assurance policy by an actuary to determine if assets held are sufficient to meet contractual payouts and future contingencies, e.g., a death claim.

Actuary
An expert in the technical aspects of insurance and finance.

Adjustable life insurance
Life insurance which allows changes on the policy face amount, the amount of premium, period of protection, and the length of the premium payment period.

Age next birthday
This is the age of the insured at his/her higher next birthday following a given date.

Amount of insurance
Also referred to as Sum Assured or Face Amount, this is the contracted benefit (or a multiple thereof) due in the event of the Insured suffering from the insured events.

Amount payable
This refers to the amount that is payable according to the terms and conditions of the insurance policy to the legal owner of the insurance policy.

Annuitant
A person receiving or entitled to receive an annuity.

Annuity
A series of payments made on a regular schedule for as long as the annuitant is alive. There are many types of annuities, such as guaranteed annuity in which the payments are guaranteed for a minimum period, whether or not the annuitant is alive.

Annuity period
The period during which payments are made to the annuitant.

Application form or proposal form
The initial forms to be completed when applying for insurance.

Application for reinstatement
An application to revive a policy that is active (that is no benefits are due or benefits have been reduced) because of non premium payment. Such application is considered on provision of evidence of good health and making good of all policy indebtedness.

Assets
These are investments made from premiums received from insurance policies. Typical assets are shares, property, government bonds, etc.

Ask or offer price
The price at which premiums are converted into standard denominations for investment purposes.

Assignee
A person to whom an assignment has been made.

Assignment
The transfer of ownership rights in a contract from one party or person to another.

Assignment of benefits
The transfer of benefits to another. This could be used to pay a physician directly: instead of the insurance company paying the Policyholder, it would pay the physician.

Assignor
A person who makes an assignment.

Attained age
The age an insured has reached on a given date.

Attending physician's statement
A statement from the physician who treated or is treating the insured or the applicant.

Aviation exclusion
An insurance provision stating that death or any other applicable benefits are not payable if death or accident occurs as a result of aviation activities.

Top

B

Backdating
Making the effective date of a policy earlier than the application date.

Basic death benefit
The death benefit as originally listed, excluding any supplementary riders or provisions.


Basic premium
This is equal to the office premium paid by the Policyholder net of policy fees and other rider premiums.

Beneficiary
The individual or party designated to receive policy proceeds on death of the insured.

Benefits
Payments made by an insurance company when an insurance claim is approved, such as claims with respect to death, retirement, or disability.

Benefit schedule
A schedule that lists all key policy details specific to the policy effected by the Policyholder including amount of insurance cover, type of policy, beneficiary details, etc.

Bid or sell price
The price at which standard investment denominations are converted into their monetary equivalent to be paid to the client.

Bid/offer spread
The difference between the bid and the offer prices.
 
Blue chip stock fund
A fund that consists of a portfolio of large or well known companies for the purposes of achieving growth.

Body mass index (BMI)
Used for underwriting purposes in evaluating build and determining overweight and obesity. It gives a measure of the person's general state of health. It is expressed as weight in Kg divided by height in metres to the power of two or Kg/m2.

Bond
A security in the form of a convertible loan with a maturity date, where the investor lends money to a company or government and receives regular payments at predetermined dates; these payments may include only interest or interest and capital.

Broker
An individual or organization that is licensed by the FSC and seeks insurance on behalf of a customer. Brokers do not work with a single entity but can work with multiple insurance companies for the best interest of their customers.

Top

C

Cancellation
Termination of an insurance policy or coverage while the policy is still in effect.

Capacity
The largest amount of insurance the insurer will underwrite subject to its available financial resources.

Capital gains taxes
Taxes that are imposed at the redemption of all capital gains.
 
Cash-payment option
An option in life insurance plans in which bonuses are paid in cash to the Policyholder.

Cash surrender value
The amount that is available to the owner if a life insurance policy is surrendered any time before the maturity date. The amount represents the monetary value of the policy minus surrender charges and any outstanding loans due upon cancellation of the policy.

Cash surrender value option
An option allowing the Policyholder to discontinue premiums and surrender the policy, receiving the cash surrender value.

Churning
Surrendering an insurance policy in order to purchase a different insurance policy.

Claim
Event described in the insurance contract giving the insured or beneficiary the contractual right to request from the insurance company the appropriate benefit payout.

Claimant
The individual or party requesting payment of benefits according to the insurance policy.

Claim administration department
The department in an insurance company that processes claims.

Claim examiner
An employee of the insurance company who examines all claims for validity, and approves or declines payment accordingly.

Closed fund
A type of fund that offers only a fixed amount of shares, usually sold through a brokerage firm by a broker. Most fund s are not closed fund; they offer unlimited shares that may be purchased and redeemed directly by the individual.

Closing
The process of finalizing the purchase of insurance or other financial products, by having the purchaser read and sign the final documents as well as any other legal details.

Closing price
The price of stock or other security at the end of the day, after the final trade.

Conservation
The attempt by an insurance company to prevent policies from lapsing.

Contingencies
Events affecting risk that may or may not occur.

Contingent beneficiary
See secondary beneficiary.

Contributory group insurance
Group insurance plans in which the insured, usually employees of a company, pay a portion of the cost towards the insurance cover.

Collateral
A temporary assignment of the monetary value of a life insurance policy as security for a loan. In the event of default, the creditor would receive proceeds or values only to the extent of his interest.

Commisson
A fee paid by the insurance company to a broker or other sales agent for introducing new business.

Compounding
Earnings on an investment's earnings. Over time, compounding can produce significant growth in value of an investment.

Contractual obligation
When parties effect a contract, there are obligation that the parties assume and are legally bound to fulfill. If the other part can resort to legal means to seek redress.

Continuation option
An option for group life policies only allowing the insured to extend or replace one policy with another one without having to show new or updated evidence of insurability.

Cooling-off option
An insurance option allowing a Policyholder, not satisfied with the insurance policy, to qualify for a full re fund of premiums paid if he/she returns the policy to the company within the cooling off period, usually 30 days from policy start.

Credit life insurance
Insurance meant to pay off a loan if the insured who is also the loanee dies before it is repaid.

Top

D

Date of commencement
The date on which cover begins, following acceptance of the risk by the insurer.

Death benefit
The amount of money paid to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured.

Death benefit payable
The amount payable, as stated in a life insurance policy, to the designated beneficiary(ies) upon the death of the insured. The amount paid is the face value, plus any rider benefits where applicable, less any outstanding loans.
 
Declaration of good faith
This is the statement or section of the proposal form where the applicant is required to declare that the statements or answers provided are complete, truthful to the best of his/her knowledge and that if it were not so, there would be legal consequences.
 
Decline
A refusal by an insurance company to grant insurance coverage, usually on medical grounds.

Defered annuity
An annuity contract under which periodic benefits are scheduled to begin at some designated future date after the date on which the annuity was purchased.

Defined benefit plan
A group pension plan that pays pension benefits based on a pre-specified formula based on salary and years and service.

Defined contribution plan
A group pension plan in which the amount of employer/ee contributions made towards securing the pension is defined according to a set formula.

Dependant
An individual who relies on someone else for financial support.

Disability
Inability to carry out one's normal tasks due to an injury or sickness.

Disability benefits
Benefits paid while the insured is disabled.

Doctrine of utmost good faith
Insurance contract is issued on the basis that the applicant truthfully and fully discloses everything he or she knows about his or her health. This arises from the recognition that the insurance company is in a disadvantageous position, as the insurer does not know anything about the applicant. Similarly, the insurance company should deal with the applicant with honesty and integrity.

Top

E

Endorsement
Changes made to the initial contractual policy benefits, eg increasing the sum assured, decreasing premiums, changing beneficiaries, etc.

Endowment insurance
Life Insurance where the amount of insurance is payable on survival of the insured to the end of the policy term or to a beneficiary if the insured dies before that.

Evidence of insurability
Evidence required to assess whether an individual's risk falls within an insurable range, eg in good health (The statement of information needed for the underwriting of an insurance policy).

Exclusion
A condition under which the benefit is not paid is referred to as exclusion. This is to avoid any misunderstanding. For example, there is usually exclusion for suicide or self-inflicted injuries by the life insured.

Expiration date
The date when an insurance policy ends.

Ex-gratia claim
This occurs where strict liability has not been proved but the insurer may decide that it would be unduly harsh or cause hardship, not to make some payment. Such payments are made out of goodwill, without admission of liability.
 
Ex-gratia payments
These are payments made by a company where it feels purely out of goodwill that some form of payment should be made. The claim is made without any admission of liability. Payment is only made on the understanding that the claimant accepts the amount in full satisfaction of all claims he or she may have on the policy.

Extended term insurance
A provision in some policies which gives the option of continuing the insurance for a particular insured amount as term insurance.

Top

F

Face amount or amount of insurance
The amount to be paid to the beneficiary, under a life assurance policy, upon the death of the insured.

Family history
The medical history affecting the applicant's immediate family. It is to look for illness that is hereditary.

Financial institution
Any organization, such as a bank or insurance company, that manages the finances of third parties.

Financial settlement
A lump sum paid to the insured or beneficiary/beneficiaries that ends the insurer's responsibilities under the policy.

First-year commission
Commission paid to an insurance agent based on the amount of premium payable during the first year the policy is in effect.

Fixed income securities
The category of investment vehicles that offer a fixed periodic return. A fixed income security is a security or certificate showing that the investor has lent money to the issuer, who is usually a company or government, in return for fixed interest income and repayment of the principal at maturity.
  
Fixed interest
Income, which remains constant and does not fluctuate, such as income derived bonds, annuities and preferences shares. The percentage return from this income varies dependent on the market price.
 
Fixed period option
An option on an annuity that provides that annuity payments, each of specified and equal amounts, will be paid for a certain period of time such as 10 or 15 years, even if the annuitant has passed away before expiry of the guarantee period.

Foreseeability
The reasonable expectation that an injury or harm will occur to the insured.

Fraudulent claim
A claim in which the claimant knowingly uses false information to validate his/her claim request.

Fund assets
Amount of assets currently in the fund.

Top

G

Grace period
This provision offers the Policyholder additional period of time after the premium due date, during which the premium can be paid. The policy continues to remain in force during this grace period and the premium continues to be payable.

Gross premium
The total amount the Policyholder pays for insurance, including basic premiums rider premiums, policy fees and other expenses.

Group insurance
An insurance contract that provides coverage, at lower cost, to a group of individuals who share something in common, eg, being employees of the same company.
 
Guaranteed insurability option
An option which allows the insured to effect additional insurance at later dates without further evidence of health.

Top

H

Hazardous avocation
A hobby that has high risk for insurance purpose. Example: A deepsea diver or a free-fall skydiver.
 
Hazardous occupation
An occupation that has high risk for insurance purposes. Example: a window cleaner on high - rise buildings.

Top

I

Immediate annuity
An annuity where, income benefits begin one annuity period after the annuity is issued. If it is specified that benefits are paid annually, then the benefit payments begin one year after issue.

Individual insurance
Insurance issued to a single individual.

Initial premium
The first payment for an insurance policy.

Insurability provision
An insurance provision stating that the policy will not become effective unless the insured is still considered insurable at the time of delivery.

Insurable interest
A valid concern for the person applying for the insurance policy. The insured person must suffer a loss if the event insured against occurs, which loss can be broadly quantified and justified.

Insurance
Protection against future uncertain losses where premiums are paid in exchange for benefits should a loss occur.

Insurance Agent
A person who, with the authority of an insurer and not being an employee of the insurer, acts on behalf of the insurer in the initiation of the insurance business, the receipt of proposals, the issue of policies, the collection of premiums or the settlement of claims.

Insured
The Policyholder or party protected by the insurance policy.

Insurer
A person carrying on a category of insurance business.

Interest-sensitive insurance
Insurance in which the benefits are based on the interest rate determined by Insurance Company, generally with some protection to Policyholders against market fluctuations.

Investment
An asset acquired for the purpose of producing income and capital gains to its owner.
  
Top

J

Joint and survivor option
An option on an annuity that provides that the annuity payout will continue through the lives of two people. If one of the payees dies, payments continue to the second payee throughout that payee's lifetime.

Joint insurance policy or Joint life policy
A single insurance policy that covers two individuals and pays the proceeds when the first insured individual dies.

Top

K

Keyman insurance
An insurance policy that a company purchases on a key employee whose knowledge, network and experience is so essential that the untimely death of that employee will have a severe impact on the profitability of the company.

Top

L

Lapse
Suspension which may lead to termination of an insurance policy because premiums were not paid on time, and Policyholder receives no cash surrender value.

Level premiums
Premiums that remain the same throughout the life of the policy.

Limited Cover
Insurance coverage where a limit is imposed on the types of insured events, because of the inability of the insurer to underwrite the insured properly. This usually arises when the insured has provided incomplete medical information.

Limited-payment whole life insurance
Whole life insurance that does not require premiums to be paid during the entire life of the insured; premiums stop at a set point, but coverage remains until death of the insured.

Law of large numbers
The principle that the number of random fluctuations of claims reduces as the number of lives insured slowly grows. There is substantial decline in standard deviation of claims arising from pure chance with increase in number of insured.

Lien
At the time the policy is issued or reinstated, as a part of the underwriting decision, the company may impose a lien on the policy. This would mean that in the event of a claim arising from a specific risk or within a period, a certain agreed amount would be deducted from the claim. The insured is regarded to self insure the amount to be deducted as the company has declined to cover the specific risk or the insured has agreed to this arrangement instead of paying the extra premium.
 
Life annuity
An annuity that makes regular (e.g., monthly, quarterly, etc.) income payments for the life of a person (the annuitant). The annuitant cannot outlive the payments. Upon his/her death, however, all income payments cease and there are no beneficiary benefits.
 
Life assured/insured
Person whose life is covered under a life insurance policy.

Life expectancy
The number of years a person is expected to live from a given attained age as determined by demographers. Within an insurance company, this information is used to calculate annuity payments and life insurance premiums.

Life fund
This is a fund set up by an insurance company to which life insurance premiums of certain designated category of life policies issued are paid into. Claims and expenses occurring on these life polices are paid out of these funds.

The company actuary does a valuation of the funds periodically before any profits or dividends are declared. The insurance company has a responsibility to exercise fairness in the way it manages the fund and the actuary will ensure that the fund is solvent at all times.

Limited cover
Insurance coverage where a limit is imposed on the types of insured events, because of the inability of the insurer to underwrite the insured properly. This usually arises when the insured has provided incomplete medical information.

Top

M

Matured endowment
An endowment insurance policy that has reached maturity and hence the maturity benefit becomes payable.

Maturity date
The date on which an endowment insurance policy's face amount will be paid to the policy-owner if the life insured is still alive.

Medical application
An insurance application requiring medical tests or examination.

Medical report
A physician's report on the insured's health.

Misrepresentation
False or misleading statements on the part of the insurance company (including its representatives) or the applicant to sway the other into accepting a policy.

Misstatement-of-age provision
A provision in an insurance policy that delineates the results if it is learned that the insured has misstated their age in the application after the policy is issued. (Age is often a significant factor in the calculation of premiums and benefits.)
 
Moral hazard
The risk that a party to a transaction has not entered into the contract in good faith, has provided misleading information about its assets, liabilities or credit capacity, or has an incentive to take unusual risks in a desperate attempt to earn a profit before the contract settles.

Morbidity
The probability of disability of a life or group of lives.
 
Mortality
The probability of death of a life or group of lives.

Top

N

Non-disclosure of material facts
Failure of an applicant to disclose facts that have an impact on the decision of the underwriter (had the underwriter known of this fact, the decision would have been different).

Non-forfeiture period
The period of time during which, if a policy is cancelled, the Policyholder does not qualify for any cash surrender value.

Non-forfeiture values
Those values in a life insurance policy that by law the policy owner cannot forfeit even if he ceases to pay the premiums. These benefits are the cash surrender value and the paid-up insurance value. The policy owner may choose one of these nonforfeiture options, but even if he fails to do so, the one specified in the contract as the automatic option for such a case comes into effect.

Non-medical application
An insurance application that does not require a medical examination.

Non-medical cases
Cases where a medical examination is not necessary for acceptance of insurance proposal.

Non-medical supplement
A report that describes the proposed insurer's health history. A nonmedical supplement is completed by the agent based on information provided by the proposed insured and can serve as part of a nonmedical application.

Non-participating policy
Non-participating policy is also known as a without-profit or non-par policy. The Policyowner does not share in any divisible surplus made by the life insurance company.

Top

O

Open-market option
Option giving the Policyholder the choice to use his/her policy proceeds at maturity on a personal pension plan to shop around for the best pension provider in the market.

Ordinary life insurance
Life insurance with regular premiums and unlimited (within reason or legal constraints) maximum death benefits.

Ownership
All rights, benefits and privileges under life insurance policies are controlled by their owners. Policy owners may or may not be the insureds. Subject to applicable laws,ownership may be assigned or transferred by written request of the current owner.

Top

P

Paid-up policy
An insurance policy that provides benefits even though all premiums have been paid/ceased, provided premiums have been paid for at least the non-forfeiture period.

Partial disability
A disability that affects some but not all duties or that affects the amount of time the individual can work (from full-time to part-time).

Partial disability benefit
A benefit, generally a portion of the full disability amount, paid when the insured suffers a partial disability.

Partial-surrender provision
A provision in an insurance policy that allows the Policyholder to take less than 100% of the policy's cash surrender value, thus decreasing the cash value but still keeping the policy in force.

Participating policy
A participating policy is also known as a with-profits or par policy. A participating policy charges a higher premium than a non-participating policy. In return, the policy owner shares in the life insurance company's divisible surplus, in the form of non guaranteed bonus allotted to the policy. The bonus is allotted in addition to the guaranteed sum assured. This bonus is paid along with the basic sum assure at the time of a claim.

Payee
The person to whom benefits are payable.

Pension
Income paid for the remainder of his/her life to a person who has retired.

Policy
A written contract of insurance.

Policy account
This is unique to each Policyholder premiums, after deduction of applicable expense charges and other fees, grow the Policyholder's account. Interest accrues to the account on a regular basis.

Policy anniversary
The annual anniversary of the date on which a policy was issued.

Policy Bonus
In participating policies the company gives the Policyholders a share in the profits of the company in the form of bonuses. Generally, there are two types of bonuses for insurance policies. Reversionary bonus is a regular addition to your insured amount and is paid when the policy matures (i.e. when the sum assured becomes payable) or when the life assured dies. Terminal bonuses are paid at maturity or earlier when the insured event occurs.

Policy fee
An additional cost added to the basic premium to cover expenses. It is a set fee that is independent of policy size.

Policyholder
The party or individual who owns an insurance policy (contract) and pays the premiums.

Policy loan
A loan made to a Policyholder by the insurer and secured against the policy's cash surrender value.

Policy limit
The maximum amount a policy will pay.

Policy proceeds
The amount of benefits the beneficiary receives after all adjustments, fees, and other factors are taken into consideration.

Policy provisions
Statements describing the operation of the policy.

Policy Term
The period of coverage provided by an insurance policy.

Policy year
Any single year, beginning on any policy anniversary, during the policy lifetime.

Portability
The right to transfer benefits under superannuation pension plans from one employer to another or from one employer to an insurer.

Portfolio
The collection of insurance polices sold by an insurance company.

Premium
This is the contribution / payment that a Policyholder makes to a life insurance company to obtain insurance cover. He or she has a responsibility to ensure that the correct amount stated is paid as and when it falls due as stated in the policy document.

Premium waiver
This is effectively a benefit where the insurance company pays all premiums due for as long as the benefit period applies.

Primary beneficiary
The beneficiary with the first right to collect on policy benefits.

Physical examination provision
A provision that allows the insurer to have the insured examined by a doctor of the insurer's choice at the insurer's expense.
 
Physical hazards
Features or facts that can be observed or evaluated. This includes reports from agents, medical consultants or through investigations.

Pure endowment
A policy, which provides for the payment of the Amount of Insurance only on survival to the maturity date. On earlier death, nothing is usually paid out.

Top

Q

Quote
Estimates of the cost of insurance and projected maturity proceeds, based on the initial information given by the applicant.

Top

R

Reduced paid-up insurance
Reduced paid up insurance can be offered on a policy that has been in force long enough to acquire a cash value and where the Policyholder does not wish to continue paying further premiums. The policy is converted with the consent of the Policyholder whereby a reduced sum assured is payable on similar terms and conditions as per the original basic policy.

Reinstatement
Restoring a lapsed policy and putting it back into force and active.

Reinstatement provision
A provision stating the requirements the Policyholder must meet in order to have a policy put back into force if it has lapsed as a result of not paying the premiums.

Reinsurance
Transactions in which one insurance company buys insurance from another company to help cover all or part of the risks in the insurance policy.

Reinsurance treaty
The agreement between the reinsurer and the insurer.

Reinsurer
The insurance company that accepts the risk being passed to it by the insurer.

Representation
Statements by insurance applicants as to some past or existing fact or circumstance.

Retention
The amount of risk the insurer retains.

Retention limit
The maximum amount of risk an insurance company will keep for its own account before ceding the rest to a reinsurer.

Return
The value received (income plus capital) annually from an investment, usually expressed as a percentage of the amount invested.
 
Reversionary annuity
An annuity provides that in the event of death of a person "A" during the lifetime of a person "B", the latter will receive an annuity for the remainder of his or her life. If "B" dies before "A", nothing is payable.

Revocable beneficiary
A beneficiary that can be dropped and replaced as beneficiary at any time by the Policyholder before the insured's death.

Riders
Additional or supplementary benefits that are bought together with a main life policy on the same life and are combined for the purposes of collecting one premium. They ride on and are considered as part of the main policy. They could be added, amended or deleted from the main policy, any time, subject to risk assessment. Details and terms and conditions of the benefits are clearly indicated in the main policy document.

Risk
The chance of loss to the insurance company, such as the insured being more likely to develop lung cancer because of smoking.

Risk assessment
This forms part of the underwriting process whereby the risk of the happening of the insured event to the life insured is evaluated and a decision is made if the case can be accepted on terms applied for by the insured.

Risk class
A group of insured individuals who are of similar risk for the insurance company, such as smokers, etc.

Risk classification
The process whereby applicants with similar levels of risk are placed in one basket so that the appropriate pricing is charged for the individuals within each respective basket.

Risk selection
The process whereby the underwriter determines whether a risk proposed such as an application for life insurance to the company is insurable or not.

Top

S

Secondary beneficiary
The party who will receive insurance proceeds should the primary beneficiary die before the insured person. Also called contingent beneficiary.

Settlement
An action that eliminates all liability of the insurer towards the payee. (Generally it involves the payment of all benefits.)

Settlement agreement
The agreement as to how policy proceeds will be paid to the beneficiary.

Settlement options
Options given to the Policyholder or beneficiary as to how the policy proceeds will be paid.

Settlement option payments
Disbursement of benefits in multiple payments rather than in a lump sum.

Single premium policy
A Life Insurance policy paid for in one single premium in advance rather than via regular premiums over the policy term.

Statutory presumption of death
In the event that a person has gone missing, an application can be made to the Judge in Chambers for a presumption of absence and five years after the said presumption of absence the person may be declared as legally dead.

Speculative risk
Derived from an intention to obtain an undue benefit from an insurance policy.

Suicide clause
An insurance provision that states that no benefits will be paid if the insured dies from suicide within one year of effecting the policy.

Surcharge
Any extra premium applied by the insurer.

Surrender
To cancel an insurance policy before its maturity date.

Surrender charge
A fee charged by the insurer when the policy is surrendered for its cash value.

Surrender value
The surrender or cash value is the amount payable to the Policyholder should the Policyholder decide to discontinue the policy. The insurance protection provided under the policy also ceases. Not all insurance policies have surrender or cash values.

Top

T

Termination expenses
The cost of processing death claims and the subsequent payouts.

Total disability
A disability in which the individual is unable to perform any of the essential duties of the position previously held, or any position for which training, education, and experience exist.

Trust
This occurs when a person(s), known as settlor sets up an obligation, known as a trust for the benefit of person(s) known as beneficiaries. Trustees are appointed to carry out the terms of trust.

Top

U

Underwriter
The person who performs the underwriting function.

Underwriting
The process of selecting insurance applicants and classifying them based on their risk, so proper premiums can be charged.

Underwriting department
The department in an insurance company that performs the underwriting function.

Underwriting requirements
Set guidelines, which may include medical records or personal history, that state what is required to determine an individual's insurability.

Top

W

Waiting period
A period of time that must pass before qualifying for insurance benefits.

Weekly indemnity plan
An insurance plan that pays a weekly benefit to the insured.

Willful misrepresentation
This occurs where the applicant completing the form willfully misrepresents the facts, so as to gain unfair advantage.

Withdrawal
A voluntary cancellation of a policy by the Policyholder.

Withdrawal provision
See partial surrender provision.
 
Top

 

Please Note: The following definitions are intended for general guidance only. They do not override, supersede or qualify any definition that appears in any of British American Insurance Co. (Mtius) Ltd’s agreement or policy contract or in any other document.