Understanding Insurance Terms

Understanding Insurance Terms

Understand Insurance Terms?

Find out the meaning of some technical insurance terms here.

Claim

A claim is the request you make for compensation from your insurer if you suffer a loss that is covered by your insurance policy.

Compensation

Compensation is what you receive for a loss or as a result of a loss. It could be in the form of money, services, a replacement item or repairs. To receive compensation from your insurer for your loss, the assessor must decide it is a valid claim that falls under your policy.

Coverage

Coverage is what’s included in your insurance policy. In property insurance, coverage includes the risks that you are insured against, the properties covered, the locations covered, the people insured, and the limits of compensation.

Capital

Insurance companies have to set aside sufficient amounts of money so they can pay all of their liabilities including claims. APRA requires insurance companies to meet prudential capital requirements. Capital is usually comprised of insurance premiums and shares, and the company’s investments and other assets.

Cooling-off period

Allows you to cancel your policy if you change your mind about your purchase and have any money you have paid refunded. You have a minimum 14-day cooling-off period for most general insurance products.

Certificate of Insurance

A formal document providing evidence that an insurance policy has been issued by an insurer containing the details of the type of insurance cover, its value, any exclusion or excess limits, the premium and the period of the insurance cover (how long it is in force).

Cash settlement

The amount an insurer may offer you to settle and close your claim instead of repairing or rebuilding your insured asset.

Duty of disclosure

When you apply for an insurance policy, or renew or extend your existing policy, you have to tell the insurer everything about you and your situation that is relevant or could reasonably be expected to be relevant to the insurer’s decision to insure you. You don’t need to disclose something you don’t know, that reduces the insurer’s risk, that is common knowledge, that the insurer knows or ought to know, or something that’s not relevant or the insurer has told you that you don’t need to disclose. With insurance, honesty is the best policy.

Defined events

Also known as insured events and refers to a policy that specifically lists the events that you are covered for. These sorts of events could include fire, storm and damage by burglars among other events. Anything not listed as a defined event will not be covered under this type of policy.

Duty of Utmost Good Faith

Each party to the insurance contract – the policyholder, the insurer and a third party beneficiary (a person who is entitled to the benefits of the insurance policy) – must act with fairness and honesty in their dealings with one another. An example of this would be insured policyholder’s obligation to make full disclosure of all relevant facts when taking out the insurance in line with their duty of disclosure. An example for an insurer would be to respond to a claim made under a policy in a timely fashion.

Insurance terms and their meanings from

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Published On: April 12th, 2022Categories: Reg Leis Insurance Services

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