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Lapse - this is when your policy is no longer valid with the insurer - usually when premiums have not been paid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)