Underwriter - Person at the insurance company
who assesses each clients application form
Loading - when the insurer increases the
premium due to increased perceived risk
Exclusion - when a pre-existing condition or
pastime is excluded from being covered
Premium - a premium is the payment you make to
keep your insurance policy active and your cover in
force. This payment is made to the insurance company who
provides you with the cover. In return for you paying them a
premium the insurance company carries your financial risk for the
benefits you have taken cover out on.
TPD - Total and Permanent Disablement
Pre-existing condition - this is an illness or
injury that you have already suffered from prior to taking out
insurance
Duty of disclosure - legally you have a duty to
give the company all of the information it needs to know when
deciding if it can offer you insurance. If you do not
disclose all material information, the company is entitled to void
the policy and decline consideration of your claim
Insurance adviser - a person or company that
deals with multiple suppliers
Non disclosure - this is when information or
details that are relevant to the insurer are not provided
Stand down - the is the period of time that you
have to wait until your insurance policy kicks in - for example if
you have an 8 week stand down on your income protection policy you
need to be off work for 8 weeks before you can be considered as 'on
claim'
BMI - this refers to 'body mass index' and can
be a factor when applying for insurance - if you have a higher than
normal BMI the insurance company may require you to have a
medical
Agreed Value - this relates to income
protection policies and is when the benefit amount of a policy is
agreed when the policy is first put in place, the policy is
financially underwritten at application time as opposed to claim
time.
Buy back - adding this benefit to a trauma
cover (living assurance / critical illness) benefit gives you the
ability to 'buy back' the cover if you have had a claim - with the
specific condition you have claimed for excluded eg. If you have a
heart attack you can 'buy back' the trauma cover after 12 months
but with a cardiovascular exclusion
Lapse - this is when your policy is no longer
valid with the insurer - usually when premiums have not been
paid
Own occupation - this term refers to total and
permanent disablement cover and provides a job specific definition
if you are unable to work ever again
Any occupation - this term also refers to total
and permanent disablement cover and provides an 'activities of
daily living' definition if you are unable to work ever again (eg
bathing, dressing unassisted)