Insurance Glossary

What does it mean?

A Beneficiary	is the person, or organisation such as a charity, who is to receive assets or profits from an estate, a trust, an insurance policy claim or similar distribution.
BUDGET Income Protection/ Personal Sick Pay	Income Protection pays an ongoing, regular benefit, if you are ill and cannot work, helping minimise the cost and impact ill-health can have on you (and your family). BUDGET Income Protection offers a cheaper way of being covered but with a maximum pay-out of 24 months per individual claim. Premiums will be cheaper than full Income Protection /Personal Sick Pay. Where affordability is an issue, having some cover in place is better than none.
Buildings & Contents	is a Condition of your mortgage ie it is compulsory.  This must be in place from Exchange of Contracts if you are buying.  If you are buying a flat this will probably be part of your Management Charge (please check with your solicitor). Contents Insurance is to protect your personal belongings.  We would recommend that you have one policy which covers both, so that you don’t find yourself having to make two claims in some instances.
Buy Back	If your policy schedule shows that the Buy Back Life Cover Option is included and you have been paid a Critical Illness Claim for a full payment condition, you can take a new Life Protection Policy, without having to provide any additional medical information at that time.
Children’s Critical Illness Cover	covers children from birth to age 21 for specified Critical Illnesses covered by the insurer (there are some limits to children’s cover, explained in the insurers policy) If a claim was made under children’s cover, you will get paid the lower of 50% of the amount of cover OR £25,000. There is only one claim per child on a policy.
Critical Illness Cover (CIC)	is insurance that pays out on diagnosis of a specified condition during the policy term, after surviving a period of 14 days. The cash from a claim under your Critical Illness Cover could be used to pay off a mortgage or make adaptations to your home, such as putting in wheelchair ramps. See Life insurance with critical illness.
Death In Service	is insurance benefit provided by your employer. This kind of policy is usually not as flexible as your own life insurance and usually ends if your job with that employer ends. It may also only pay out whilst you are actually at work.
Decreasing Cover	is designed to cover the reducing amount you owe on a capital and interest repayment mortgage. The amount of cover goes down each month but the premium stays the same for the policy term. The amount of cover is not guaranteed to repay the amount outstanding under your mortgage. Also see Level cover.
Defaqto	is an independent financial research company specialising in rating, comparing and analysing financial products. Defaqto is one of the leading providers of financial product data in the UK, covering over 30,000 products across banking, life, pensions, investments and general insurance. The best defaqto is a 5* rating.
A Dependant	is someone who depends on someone else for financial support, such as a child supported by their parents.
An Emergency Fund	is money you put aside to help you pay bills and buy important items if you’re short of cash. You can insure against some emergencies, such as redundancy or medical problems but sometimes you might be caught unawares, so it makes sense to have an emergency fund just in case.
Endorsements	are changes or special conditions that apply to the terms of a policy, and are sometimes called exclusions. In the motoring world, they also mean offences recorded on your driving licence.
An Excess	is the amount that you have to pay towards a claim. A compulsory excess is an excess applied by your insurer and could vary depending on your circumstances. A voluntary excess is a figure agreed with your insurer, usually where you agree to pay a higher part of each claim in return for a lower premium. Excesses vary between different types of cover. Refer to your document of insurance for more information.
Exclusions	are things that your insurance won’t cover, such as a result of war, wear and tear or fraud. Exclusions vary between insurance products but all exclusions should be clear and specific. (Found in Home Insurance) Fixtures and fitting are both covered by buildings insurance, even though some fittings may appear to be contents.
Family Income Benefit	is a very useful Life Insurance policy which is designed to pay out a monthly income for dependants eg children to age 21 or a dependant spouse etc.  It is usually relatively cheap and can provide extra peace of mind.
Fixtures And Fittings	Fixtures usually include: central-heating boilers, systems and radiators, light-fittings, fitted kitchens, wardrobes and bathroom furniture. Fittings usually include: lampshades, curtains, curtain rails and poles, TV aerials and satellite dishes, paintings or mirrors hung or screwed to a wall, freestanding kitchen equipment such as white goods
Guaranteed Insurability	is an optional choice within a life insurance policy that allows you to increase the level of cover you have in place. Most policies will allow you to increase your level of cover once ever 12 months without having to provide any evidence of your health. This can be a huge benefit for you if you are considering buying Life Insurance, especially if you expect your health to worsen in the future. With Guaranteed Insurability you do not have to worry about being assessed for your insurability to the insurance company again, nor do you have to worry about being rejected for additional life insurance on the grounds that you are uninsurable.
Guaranteed Premiums	The premiums are guaranteed to remain the same for the duration of the plan, unless you increase the amount of cover via ‘indexation’. Please refer to your QUOTATION for confirmation of this.  The premiums may be more expensive than Reviewable Premiums initially, but may be cheaper long term as you get older and perhaps have health issues.
Health Insurance/ Private Medical Insurance	Health Insurance, also known as Private Medical Insurance, pays out for private treatment if you fall ill. What you are covered for depends on your provider, but there are some elements usually included in most policies. Most policies cover the costs of inpatient treatment (where you need a hospital bed for the day or overnight), including tests and surgery. A stay in hospital and limited nursing care is included in most policies.
Retail Price Index (RPI)	is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. It measures the change in the cost of a representative sample of retail goods and services.
Income Protection	insurance pays you a tax-free monthly income if you can’t work due to sickness, accident or injury. You can choose between level cover and inflation linked cover.
Index Linked	is where the benefit or income from a policy or investment is linked to an index, such as the Retail Prices Index (RPI), so that it keeps pace with inflation. See Inflation-linked Cover.
Inflation Linked	Inflation Linked cover means that the amount you’re covered for (The Benefit) rises each year by inflation, the premium will rise each year in line with inflation (5* Defaqto), or it rises on an age attained basis (1* Defaqto) or on a multiple of the RPI (3* Defaqto).
Joint Life Cover	is where you and another person are both insured on the same policy. You can be insured on a first death or second death basis. If it’s first death then the policy pays out when the first person dies during the term of cover, the other person is then no longer covered and the policy ends. If it’s second death then the cover continues after the first person dies and remains in force until the second person dies, provided it’s within the term of cover
A policy Lapses	(or ends) if you stop paying the premiums. There is usually a period of time in which you must pay any premiums you’ve missed to stop this happening, so check your policy or plan conditions.
With Level Cover	the amount of cover and the premium you pay is fixed when your plan starts and stays the same for the policy term. Also see Decreasing cover.
Life Insurance	is insurance that pays out a set amount of money if you die before the end date of your plan. The cash could be used to pay off a mortgage or provide a lump sum to ease the financial worries for your family.
With Life Insurance With Critical Illness	you might be able to add critical illness cover to your life insurance policy. Or your life insurance policy might include critical illness cover. With a life insurance policy that includes critical illness cover, you get insurance that pays out a set amount of money if you die or are diagnosed with a specified condition during the policy term, after surviving at least 14 days.
Your Plan	is a formal, legally-binding contract of insurance that includes the terms of your cover.
Plan Anniversary	is each 12 month anniversary of the start date of your plan.
Plan Conditions	show the details of what your plan covers, what it doesn’t cover, and when and how you can claim.
Policy Document	is a document showing an agreement you have made with an insurance company.
Quotation	is an estimate of what your rate could be with a potential insurance company. Quotes are subject to change depending on how much information you give at the time of the quote. The more forthcoming you are with information, the more accurate your insurance quote
Reviewable Premiums	Your premiums are “reviewed” by the insurance company at regular intervals (usually annually).  Reviewable Premiums may initially be cheaper than Guaranteed Premiums, but are likely to prove more expensive long term. IF your policy has REVIEWABLE PREMIUMS this means that your premiums WILL increase as you get older.  The risk with this is that your premiums may become unaffordable.  Also, if you have had health issues, you may not be able to change insurance provider.
The Plan Owner	is the legal owner of the plan, and the person legally entitled to the benefits from it in the event of a claim.
Terminal illness	A feature of a Life Insurance Policy, this pays a lump sum benefit when you are diagnosed with a Terminal Illness.  Receiving a payment while still alive could help the insured cover medical bills, costs of care, and living expenses during the remainder of their lifetime. There may be an additional cost for this which is detailed in the quotation.
Term Insurance (Or Term Assurance)	is a form of life insurance that offers cover for a fixed period, during which a lump sum will be paid out if the life insured dies.
Total and Permanent Disability	is an additional option within your Critical Illness policy which would pay out a lump sum in the event of you losing either mental or physical ability.  This may be either on OWN OCCUPATION or WORKS TASKS basis.  Definitions vary by Provider.
Unemployment Cover	generally only provide income for 12-24 months and the premiums are always REVIEWABLE and pay out in the event of INVOLUNTARY unemployment.
Waiver Of Premium	is a form of protection where the insurance company pays your premiums if you can’t work because of sickness or accident.
Whole Life Insurance	is a policy that pays out on your death. There is no fixed term, cover continues as long as you continue to pay premiums. You pay premiums throughout your life or until you reach a certain age, when premiums could stop but cover continues.
Works Tasks Occupation	The Insurer will only pay out on a claim if you cannot complete certain tasks of daily living or work tasks. Depending on the insurer these can be tasks such as walking up stairs or holding a pen, eating, dressing and undressing, washing or bathing, lifting, standing, sitting or bending