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HIPAA- health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This Act is meant to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve portability and continuity of health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets, to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance and health care delivery, to promote the use of medical savings accounts, to improve access to long-term care services and coverage, to simplify the administration of health insurance, and for other purpose.
HUD - United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Hazard - A specific situation that increases the probability of the occurrence of loss arising from a peril, or that may influence the extent of the loss.
Highly Protected Risk (HPR) - Refers to Property risks which meet the standards required for lower rates. Risks of this type are usually protected by sprinklers and have better-than-average construction and occupancy. The term is most often used in connection with the factory mutuals, Factory Insurance Association, and the improved risk mutuals.
Hired Auto - Automobiles leased, hired, rented or borrowed by the insured.
Historical Cost- The price paid to acquire the property
Hold Harmless Agreement - A contractual arrangement whereby one party assumes the liability inherent in a situation, thereby relieving the other party of responsibility. Such agreements are typically found in contracts like leases, sidetrack agreements, and easements. For example, a typical lease may provide that the lessee must "hold harmless" the lessor for any liability from accidents arising out of the premises. The effect of such an agreement is that the lessee must provide a defense for the lessor, and if any judgment is rendered against the lessor, the lessee would have to pay.
Homeowners Policy - A Property and Liability Insurance contract that provides insurance against any of the Property and Liability perils to which a homeowner or renter is exposed.
Hull Policy - A contract that provides indemnification for damage sustained to or loss of an insured vessel or airplane.
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Implied Warranty - In certain cases the law says that one has given a warranty to another even though the warranty is not in writing. An example would be in sales: A seller implies that his product is fit for the purpose it purports to serve.
Inchmaree Clause - A provision which provides reimbursement to an insured in the event of a loss which is due to the negligence of the master or crew of a vessel.
Incident - Event that disrupts normal activities and may become a loss or claim; "a near miss" life cycle of an incident: pre-incident, incident, immediate post-incident, post-incident, rehabilitation (repair, recovery)
Incompetent - A person who cannot manage his or her own affairs. One who is legally declared insane would be an example of an incompetent.
Increased Cost of Construction Insurance - Insurance that covers the additional cost of reconstructing a damaged or destroyed building where ordinances require rebuilding with more expensive materials, services, or techniques.
Increased Hazard - Property Insurance policies provide that coverage shall be suspended when the hazard in a risk is increased beyond that contemplated when the insurance was written.
Increased Limit Factors - A Ratio applied to losses at one retention level (e.g., $1,000,000 per occurrence) to determine expected losses at another retention level (e.g., $5,000,000)
Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) - Represents the liability for unpaid claims not reflected in the case reserve estimates for individual losses. The two components of this liability derive from additional development on known cases and the reporting of claims that have occurred but not yet been recorded as of the evaluation date.
Incurred Expense - Expenses not yet paid. Can also include paid expenses in some accounting system (reserves).
Incurred Loss Ratio - The percentage of losses incurred to premiums earned.
Incurred Losses - 1) The total amount of paid claims and loss reserves associated with a particular period of time, usually a policy year. Generally , incurred losses are the actual losses paid and outstanding, interest on judgments, expenses incurred in obtaining third-party recoveries, and allocated loss adjustment expenses for employers liability losses; 2) paid losses, case reserves, and IBNR reserves until ultimate incurred losses are reached, at which time there is no remaining IBNR.
Indemnify - To make compensation to an entity for incurred hurt, loss, or damage; restore to original position
Indemnity - Restoration to the victim of a loss by payment, repair, or replacement.
Indemnity Bond- A bond that indemnifies an obligee against loss which may arise as the result of failure to perform on the part of the principal.
Independent Adjuster - An adjuster who works as an independent contractor, hiring himself out to insurance companies or other organizations for the investigation and settlement of claims.
Independent Contractor - An individual or entity that agrees to perform specific work for another but is not subject to direction or management by, nor is an employee of, the person who contracted for the services.
Indirect Loss (or Damage) - Loss resulting from a peril but not caused directly and immediately by that peril. For example: Loss of property due to fire is a direct loss, while the loss of rental income as the result of the fire would be an indirect loss. (Consequential Loss).
Industrial Risk Insurers - A consortium of major stock property and casualty insurers formed to write large, highly protected risks. The organization was formed in 1975 by the merger of the Factory Insurance Association and the Oil Insurance Association.
Inflation Index Factor - A premium loading to provide for future increases in claims costs and loss payments resulting from inflation
Inherent Explosion - An explosion caused by some condition existing in and natural to an insured's premises. An example would be a dust explosion in a grain elevator.
Inherent Vice - A fault in property that leads to its self-destruction. Insurance contracts usually exclude such damage.
Inland Marine Insurance - A branch of the insurance business which developed from the insuring of shipments which did not involve ocean voyages. The Inland Marine forms borrowed their language from Fire, Ocean Marine, Theft and other contracts. Exposures eligible for this form of protection are described in the nationwide definition of Marine Insurance. Such diverse properties as bridges, tunnels, jewelry and furs can now be written under Inland Marine forms.
Innkeepers Legal Liability - coverage for motel and hotel operators, protecting them against the legal liability they have for the safekeeping of the property of guests. The policy usually has a limit per guest and an aggregate limit per policy year.
Inside Limits - Limits placed on hospital expense benefits which modify benefits from the overall maximums listed in the policy. An inside limit when applied to room and board, limits the benefit to not only a maximum amount payable, but also limits the number of days the benefit will be paid.
Insolvency Clause- A clause that holds that a reinsurer is liable for his share of a loss assumed under a treaty even though the primary insurer has become insolvent.
Insurable Interest - Any interest a person has in a possible subject or insurance, such as a care or home, of such a nature that a certain happening might cause him financial loss.
Insurable Risk - A risk which meets most of the following requisites: (1) the loss insured against must be capable of being defined. (2) It must be accidental. (3) It must be large enough to cause a hardship to the insured. (4) It must belong to a homogeneous group of risks large enough to make losses predictable. (5) It must not be subject to the same loss at the same time as a large number of other risks. (6) The insurance company must be able to determine a reasonable cost for the insurance. (7) The insurance company must be able to calculate the chance of loss.
Insurance - A formal social device for reducing risk by transferring the risks of several individual entities to an insurer. The insurer agrees, for a consideration, to assume, to a specified extent, the losses suffered by the insured.
Insurance Guarantee Act - The legislation enacted in many states providing for guaranty funds for the policyholders of insolvent insurers.
Insured - The party to an insurance arrangement whom the insurer agrees to indemnify for losses, provide benefits for, or render services to. This term is preferred to such terms as policyholder, policy owner, and assured.
Insurer - The insurance company that undertakes to indemnity for losses and perform other insurance-related operations
Insuring Agreement (or Clause) - That portion of an insurance contract which states the perils insured against, the persons and/or property covered, their locations, and the period of the contract.
Intentional Injury - An injury resulting from an act, the doer or which had as his intent to inflict injury. In general, intentional injuries inflicted on an insured are covered as long as they are not self-inflicted.
Invitee - One who has been either expressly or implicitly invited onto the premises of another. The most common example would be customers invited to a store to purchase goods or services.
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Joint and Several Liability - A legal doctrine permitting recovery from any of several co-defendants based on ability to pay, rather than the degree of negligence.
Joint Venture - This expression is applied most often to construction ventures where several contractors agree to combine together on a construction project rather than to act as separate contractors. Under the joint venture agreement, they share profits and losses in some agreed-upon proportion.
Joisted Masonry Construction - A building which has exterior walls constructed of masonry materials, such as adobe, brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow concrete block, stone, tile, or other similar materials, and a roof and floor constructed of combustible materials. A floor which rests directly on the ground is an exception and may be disregarded.
Jones Act - The federal act which provides for the covering of ships' crews under Workers' Compensation plans.
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Keogh Act (HR-10) Plan - A plan under the Self-Employed individual's Tax Retirement Act which permits a self-employed individual to establish a formal retirement plan including himself and to obtain tax advantages similar to those available in qualified corporate pension plans.
Kidnap-Ransom Insurance - This insurance is written primarily for financial institutions and covers named employees for individual or aggregate amounts paid as ransom, with a deductible requiring the insured to participate in about 10% of any loss. There are few markets for this coverage and no standardization of rates.