Builder's risk insurance insures against the risk of physical
loss or damage to property during construction. Builder's risk insurance is
typically written on an "all risk" basis covering damage due to any cause (including
the negligence of the insured) not otherwise expressly excluded.
Casualty insurance insures against accidents, not necessarily
tied to any specific property.
Credit insurance
repays some or all of a loan back when certain
things happen to the borrower such as unemployment, disability, or death.
Mortgage insurance (which see below) is a form of credit insurance, although the
name credit insurance more often is used to refer to policies that cover other
kinds of debt.
Crime insurance insures the policyholder against losses arising
from the criminal acts of third parties. For example, a company can obtain crime
insurance to cover losses arising from theft or embezzlement.
Crop insurance "Farmers use crop insurance to reduce or manage
various risks associated with growing crops. Such risks include crop loss or
damage caused by weather, hail, drought, frost damage, insects, or disease, for
instance."
Defense Base Act Workers' compensation or DBA Insurance
insurance provides coverage for civilian workers hired by the government to
perform contracts outside the US and Canada. DBA is required for all US citizens,
US residents, US Green Card holders, and all employees or subcontractors hired
on overseas government contracts. Depending on the country, Foreign Nationals
must also be covered under DBA. This coverage typically includes expenses
related to medical treatment and loss of wages, as well as disability and death
benefits.
Directors and officers liability insurance protects an
organization (usually a corporation) from costs associated with litigation
resulting from mistakes incurred by directors and officers for which they are
liable. In the industry, it is usually called "D&O" for short.
Disability insurance policies provide financial support in the
event the policyholder is unable to work because of disabling illness or injury.
It provides monthly support to help pay such obligations as mortgages and credit
cards.
| Recommended Disability Insurance Links |
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Total permanent disability insurance insurance provides
benefits when a person is permanently disabled and can no longer work in their
profession, often taken as an adjunct to life insurance.
Errors and omissions insurance: See "Professional liability
insurance" under "Liability insurance".
Expatriate insurance provides individuals and organizations
operating outside of their home country with protection for automobiles,
property, health, liability and business pursuits.
Fraternal insurance is provided on a cooperative basis by
fraternal benefit socieities or other social organizations.
Financial loss insurance protects individuals and companies
against various financial risks. For example, a business might purchase cover to
protect it from loss of sales if a fire in a factory prevented it from carrying
out its business for a time. Insurance might also cover the failure of a
creditor to pay money it owes to the insured. This type of insurance is
frequently referred to as "business interruption insurance." Fidelity bonds and
surety bonds are included in this category, although these products provide a
benefit to a third party (the "obligee") in the event the insured party (usually
referred to as the "obligor") fails to perform its obligations under a contract
with the obligee.
| Recommended Financial Loss Insurance Links |
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Fire insurance: See "Property insurance".
Hazard insurance: See "Property insurance".
Health insurance policies will often cover the cost of private
medical treatments if the National Health Service in the UK (NHS) or other
publicly-funded health programs do not pay for them. It will often result in
quicker health care where better facilities are available.
Home insurance or homeowners insurance: See "Property insurance".
Liability insurance
is a very broad superset that covers legal
claims against the insured. Many types of insurance include an aspect of
liability coverage. For example, a homeowner's insurance policy will normally
include liability coverage which protects the insured in the event of a claim
brought by someone who slips and falls on the property; automobile insurance
also includes an aspect of liability insurance that indemnifies against the harm
that a crashing car can cause to others' lives, health, or property. The
protection offered by a liability insurance policy is twofold: a legal defense
in the event of a lawsuit commenced against the policyholder and indemnification
(payment on behalf of the insured) with respect to a settlement or court verdict.
Liability policies typically cover only the negligence of the insured, and will
not apply to results of willful or intentional acts by the insured.
| Recommended Liability Insurance Links |
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Environmental liability insurance protects the insured from
bodily injury, property damage and cleanup costs as a result of the dispersal,
release or escape of pollutants.
Professional liability insurance, also called professional
indemnity insurance, protects professional practitioners such as architects,
lawyers, doctors, and accountants against potential negligence claims made by
their patients/clients. Professional liability insurance may take on different
names depending on the profession. For example, professional liability insurance
in reference to the medical profession may be called malpractice insurance.
Notaries public may take out errors and omissions insurance (E&O). Other
potential E&O policyholders include, for example, real estate brokers, home
inspectors, appraisers, and website developers.
Life insurance provides a monetary benefit to a decedent's
family or other designated beneficiary, and may specifically provide for income
to an insured person's family, burial, funeral and other final expenses. Life
insurance policies often allow the option of having the proceeds paid to the
beneficiary either in a lump sum cash payment or an annuity.
| Recommended Life Insurance Links |
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Annuities provide a stream of payments and are generally
classified as insurance because they are issued by insurance companies and
regulated as insurance and require the same kinds of actuarial and investment
management expertise that life insurance requires. Annuities and pensions that
pay a benefit for life are sometimes regarded as insurance against the
possibility that a retiree will outlive his or her financial resources. In that
sense, they are the complement of life insurance and, from an underwriting
perspective, are the mirror image of life insurance.
Locked funds insurance is a little-known hybrid insurance
policy jointly issued by governments and banks. It is used to protect public
funds from tamper by unauthorized parties. In special cases, a government may
authorize its use in protecting semi-private funds which are liable to tamper.
The terms of this type of insurance are usually very strict. Therefore it is
used only in extreme cases where maximum security of funds is required.
Marine insurance and marine cargo insurance cover the loss or
damage of ships at sea or on inland waterways, and of the cargo that may be on
them. When the owner of the cargo and the carrier are separate corporations,
marine cargo insurance typically compensates the owner of cargo for losses
sustained from fire, shipwreck, etc., but excludes losses that can be recovered
from the carrier or the carrier's insurance. Many marine insurance underwriters
will include "time element" coverage in such policies, which extends the
indemnity to cover loss of profit and other business expenses attributable to
the delay caused by a covered loss.
Mortgage insurance insures the lender against default by the
borrower.
National Insurance is the UK's version of social insurance (which
see below).
No-fault insurance is a type of insurance policy (typically
automobile insurance) where insureds are indemnified by their own insurer
regardless of fault in the incident.
Nuclear incident insurance covers damages resulting from an
incident involving radioactive materials and is generally arranged at the
national level. (For the United States, see the Price-Anderson Nuclear
Industries Indemnity Act.)
Pet insurance insures pets against accidents and illnesses -
some companies cover routine/wellness care and burial, as well.
Political risk insurance can be taken out by businesses with
operations in countries in which there is a risk that revolution or other
political conditions will result in a loss.
Pollution Insurance. A first-party coverage for contamination
of insured property either by external or on-site sources. Coverage for
liability to third parties arising from contamination of air, water, or land due
to the sudden and accidental release of hazardous materials from the insured
site. The policy usually covers the costs of cleanup and may include coverage
for releases from underground storage tanks. Intentional acts are specifically
excluded
Prize indemnity insurance protects the insured from giving away
a large prize at a specific event. Examples would include offering prizes to
contestants who can make a half-court shot at a basketball game, or a
hole-in-one at a golf tournament.
Property insurance provides protection against risks to
property, such as fire, theft or weather damage. This includes specialized forms
of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home
insurance, inland marine insurance or boiler insurance.
| Recommended Property Insurance Links |
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Protected Self-Insurance is an alternative risk financing
mechanism in which an organisation retains the mathematically calculated cost of
risk within the organisation and transfers the catastrophic risk with specific
and aggregate limits to an Insurer so the maximum total cost of the program is
known. A properly designed and underwritten Protected Self-Insurance Program
reduces and stabilizes the cost of insurance and provides valuable risk
management information.
Purchase insurance is aimed at providing protection on the
products people purchase. Purchase insurance can cover individual purchase
protection, warranties, guarantees, care plans and even mobile phone insurance.
Such insurance is normally very limited in the scope of problems that are
covered by the policy.
Retrospectively Rated Insurance is a method of establishing a
premium on large commercial accounts. The final premium is based on the
insured's actual loss experience during the policy term, sometimes subject to a
minimum and maximum premium, with the final premium determined by a formula.
Under this plan, the current year's premium is based partially (or wholly) on
the current year's losses, although the premium adjustments may take months or
years beyond the current year's expiration date. The rating formula is
guaranteed in the insurance contract. Formula: retrospective premium = converted
loss + basic premium × tax multiplier. Numerous variations of this formula have
been developed and are in use.
Formal Self Insurance is the deliberate decision to pay for
otherwise insurable losses out of one's own money. This can be done on a formal
basis by establishing a separate fund into which funds are deposited on a
periodic basis, or by simply forgoing the purchase of available insurance and
paying out-of-pocket. Self insurance is usually used to pay for high-frequency,
low-severity losses. Such losses, if covered by conventional insurance, mean
having to pay a premium that includes loadings for the company's general
expenses, cost of putting the policy on the books, acquisition expenses, premium
taxes, and contingencies. While this is true for all insurance, for small,
frequent losses the transaction costs may exceed the benefit of volatility
reduction that insurance otherwise affords.
Social insurance
can be many things to many people in many
countries. But a summary of its essence is that it is a collection of insurance
coverages (including components of life insurance, disability income insurance,
unemployment insurance, health insurance, and others), plus retirement savings,
that mandates participation by all citizens. By forcing everyone in society to
be a policyholder and pay premiums, it ensures that everyone can become a
claimant when or if he/she needs to. Along the way this inevitably becomes
related to other concepts such as the justice system and the welfare state. This
is a large, complicated topic that engenders tremendous debate, which can be
further studied in the following articles (and others):
Social welfare provision
Social security
Social safety net
National Insurance
Social Security (United States)
Social Security debate (United States)
| Recommended Social Insurance Links |
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Stop-loss insurance provides protection against catastrophic or
unpredictable losses. It is purchased by organisations who do not want to assume
100% of the liability for losses arising from the plans. Under a stop-loss
policy, the insurance company becomes liable for losses that exceed certain
limits called deductibles.
Surety Bond insurance is a three party insurance guaranteeing
the performance of the principal.
Terrorism insurance provides protection against any loss or
damage caused by terrorist activities.
Title insurance provides a guarantee that title to real
property is vested in the purchaser and/or mortgagee, free and clear of liens or
encumbrances. It is usually issued in conjunction with a search of the public
records performed at the time of a real estate transaction.
Travel insurance is an insurance cover taken by those who
travel abroad, which covers certain losses such as medical expenses, lost of
personal belongings, travel delay, personal liabilities, etc.
| Recommended Travel Insurance Links |
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Volcano insurance is an insurance that covers volcano damage in
Hawaii.
Workers' compensation insurance replaces all or part of a
worker's wages lost and accompanying medical expense incurred because of a
job-related injury.
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