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A |
| Accidental Death Benefit - Provides a specified death benefit amount if the insured dies as a result of an accident. This is often provided as a supplementary life insurance benefit, payable in addition to the policy's basic death benefit. |
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| Annuity - In the financial services industry, a contract under which an insurer promises to make a series of periodic payments to a named individual in exchange for a premium or series of premiums. |
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B
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| Beneficiary - The person or party the owner of a life insurance policy names to receive the policy benefit. |
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| Benefit Period - The specified time during which disability income benefits will be paid under a disability income policy. |
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C
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| Cash Value - The element of a permanent life insurance policy, which represents the policyowner's ownership interest in the policy. |
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| Children's Insurance Rider - A rider that may be added to a permanent insurance policy to provide term insurance coverage on the insured's children. |
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| Claim - A request for payment of insurance policy benefits following the occurrence of a covered loss. |
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| Continuous-premium whole life policy - A whole life insurance policy for which premiums are payable until the insured's death. Also known as a straight life insurance policy or an ordinary life insurance policy. |
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| Contract - A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties. |
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| Convertible term insurance policy - A type of term life insurance policy that allows the policyowner to change the term insurance policy to a whole life policy without providing evidence of insurability. |
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| Corporation - A legal entity that is created by the authority of a governmental unit and that is separate and distinct from the people who own it. |
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| D |
| Decreasing term life insurance - A type of term life insurance that provides a death benefit that decreases in amount over the policy term. |
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| Disability income insurance - Health insurance coverage that provides income replacement benefits to an insured who is unable to work because of sickness or injury. |
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| E |
| Exclusion rider - An individual health insurance policy rider which states that benefits will not be provided for any loss that results from a condition specified in the rider. |
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| F |
| Face amount - The amount of the death benefit payable under a life insurance policy. |
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| Free-look provision - An individual life insurance and annuity policy provision that gives the policyowner a stated time - usually 10 or 20 days - after the policy is delivered in which to cancel the policy and receive a full refund of the initial premium payment. |
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| G |
| Grace period - A specified length of time - usually 31 days - within which a renewal premium that is due may be paid without penalty. |
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| Group insurance policy - An insurance policy that is issued to a party that is purchasing insurance coverage for a specified group of people. |
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| H |
| Health insurance policy - An insurance policy that provides protection against the risk of financial loss resulting from the insured person's sickness, accidental injury, or disability. |
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| Home office - The headquarters of an insurance company. |
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| Hospital expense coverage - A type of basic medical expense coverage that provides benefits for specified hospital expenses such as room and board, medications, laboratory services, and other fees associated with a hospital stay. |
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| I |
| Increasing term life insurance - Term life insurance that provides a death benefit that increases by some specified amount or percentage at stated intervals over the policy term. |
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| Insurance agent - A person who is authorized by an insurance company to represent that company in its dealings with applicants for insurance. |
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| Insured - The person whose life or health is insured under an insurance policy. |
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| K |
| Key-person life insurance - Any person or employee whose continued participation in a business is necessary to the success of the business and whose death would cause the business a significant financial loss. |
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| P |
| Policy - A written document that contains the terms of the contractual agreement between the insurance company and the owner of the policy. |
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| Policy loan - A loan that an insurer makes to the owner of a permanent life insurance policy. The policy loan is secured by the policy's cash value and cannot exceed the cash value. |
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| Portable provision - Group insurance coverage that can be continued when an insured employee leaves the covered group. |
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| Pre-existing condition - (a) For most individual health insurance, an injury that occurred or a sickness that first manifested itself before the policy was issued and that was not disclosed on the application. (b) For most group health insurance, a condition for which an individual received medical care during the three months immediately prior to the effective date of coverage. Note: Actual language on the policy may vary. |
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| Pre-existing conditions provision - An individual or group insurance policy provision which states that benefits will not be paid for pre-existing conditions until the insured has been covered under the policy for a specified length of time. |
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| Preferred risk - A proposed insured who presents a significantly less-than-average likelihood of loss and who is charged a lower-than-standard premium rate. |
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| Premium - A specified amount of money an insurer charges in exchange for its promise to pay a policy benefit when a specific loss occurs. |
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| R |
| Regional office - An insurance company office that is charged with many of the same functions and operations as the company's home office but that is geographically closer to the market it serves and generally reports to the home office. |
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| S |
| Standard risk - A proposed insured who has a likelihood of loss that is not significantly greater than average. |
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| Substandard risk - A proposed insured who has a significantly greater-than-average likelihood of loss. |
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| T |
| Term life insurance - Life insurance that provides a death benefit if the insured dies during a specified period of time. |
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| U |
| Underwriting - The process of identifying and classifying the degree of risk represented by a proposed insured. |
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| Universal life insurance - Life insurance that is characterized by its flexible premiums, its flexible face amounts, and its unbundling of the pricing factors. |
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| W |
| Whole life insurance - Life insurance that provides lifetime insurance coverage at a level premium rate that does not increase as the insured ages. |
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| Y |
| Yearly renewal term (YRT) insurance - One-year term life insurance that is renewable at the end of the policy term. |
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