Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.
Indemnity is a contractual obligation of one party (indemnifier) to compensate the loss incurred to the other party due to the acts of the indemnitor or any other party. The duty to indemnify is usually, but not always, coextensive with the contractual duty to "hold harmless" or "save harmless". In contrast, a "guarantee" is an obligation of one party assuring the other party that guarantor will perform the promise of the third party if it defaults.
Title insurance is a form of indemnity insurance predominantly found in the United States and Canada which insures against financial loss from defects in title to real property and from the invalidity or unenforceability of mortgage loans. Unlike some land registration systems in countries outside the United States, US states' recorders of deeds generally do not guarantee indefeasible title to those recorded titles. Title insurance will defend against a lawsuit attacking the title or reimburse the insured for the actual monetary loss incurred up to the dollar amount of insurance provided by the policy.
Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insurance liabilities to the other insurance company. The company that purchases the reinsurance policy is called a "ceding company" or "cedent" or "cedant" under most arrangements. The company issuing the reinsurance policy is referred simply as the "reinsurer". In the classic case, reinsurance allows insurance companies to remain solvent after major claims events, such as major disasters like hurricanes and wildfires. In addition to its basic role in risk management, reinsurance is sometimes used to reduce the ceding company's capital requirements, or for tax mitigation or other purposes.
Chubb Limited, incorporated in Zurich, Switzerland, is the parent company of Chubb, a global provider of insurance products covering property and casualty, accident and health, reinsurance, and life insurance and the largest publicly traded property and casualty company in the world. Chubb operates in 54 countries and territories and in the Lloyd's insurance market in London. Clients of Chubb consist of multinational corporations and local businesses, individuals, and insurers seeking reinsurance coverage. Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance. The current corporate branding was established when ACE Limited acquired Chubb in 2016, then adopted the Chubb name.
Liability insurance is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the insured if the purchaser is sued for claims that come within the coverage of the insurance policy.
Marine insurance covers the loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch of marine insurance, though Marine insurance also includes Onshore and Offshore exposed property,, Hull, Marine Casualty, and Marine Liability. When goods are transported by mail or courier, shipping insurance is used instead.
An insurance broker sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance for compensation.
A third-party administrator (TPA) is an organization that processes insurance claims or certain aspects of employee benefit plans for a separate entity. It is also a term used to define organizations within the insurance industry which administer other services such as underwriting, customer service. This can be viewed as outsourcing the administration of the claims processing, since the TPA is performing a task traditionally handled by the company providing the insurance or the company itself. Often, in the case of insurance claims, a TPA handles the claims processing for an employer that self-insures its employees. Thus, the employer is acting as an insurance company and underwrites the risk. The risk of loss remains with the employer, and not with the TPA. An insurance company may also use a TPA to manage its claims processing, provider networks, utilization review, or membership functions. While some third-party administrators may operate as units of insurance companies, they are often independent.
Australian insurance law is based on commercial contract law, but is subject to regulations that affect the insurance industry and insurance contracts within Australia. Commonwealth Parliament has power to make laws with respect to insurance and insurance companies under section 51(xiv) and (xx) of the Australian Constitution. Generally, the Insurance Act 1973 and Insurance Contracts Act 1984 are the main acts that apply, however there are a number of other pieces of legislation enacted by the states, private codes and voluminous case law all of which forms the body of insurance law.
A public adjuster is a professional claims handler/ claims adjuster who advocates for the policyholder in assisting and negotiating a insured's insurance claim. Aside from attorneys and the broker of record, state licensed public adjusters are also legal representatives, professionals who are entrusted by governments and consumers to legally and professionally represent the rights of an insured during an insurance claim process. Their technical knowledge or expertise and ability to interpret sometimes ambiguous insurance policies allow property owners to recover the best possible indemnification for their claims. Although seen many times as adversarial and even treated as hostile by the Carriers who dismiss them as illegitimate non-professionals, public adjusters are generally more competent than Carriers adjusters and do substantially increase the settlement value of the loss. Many professionals, and persons who are either incapable due to education, age, or physical impairment, or prefer to avoid the stress of claims handling choose public adjuster representation to guide them through the process and minimize the time which must be spent to file their claim properly. Public adjusting is most beneficial and largely used before a claim adjustment becomes a disputed impasse between a carrier and an policyholder. Public adjusters negotiate with Carriers for an adjustment or settlement. However, once adjusting has failed and there is an unresolvable dispute, or an impasse between the adjusters results from adjusting methods, then further adjusting efforts become futile thereby neutralizing public adjuster practices as ineffective. Such an impasse facilitates the need for policyholders to dismiss public adjusting and instead utilize the policy and/or law methods of either appraisal, arbitration, or litigation for the best settlement result. When a policyholder and a Carrier adjust a policyholder's claim without a public adjuster, and an impasse results, public adjuster practices often produce nothing more than token results, because Carriers are under no obligation to honor a claim presented by a public adjuster. Therefore, the best alternatives for a policyholder is appraisal, arbitration, or litigation where Carriers are legally required to honor the results, and public adjusters can expedite these alternative processes. Public adjusting is least effective when a public adjuster is brought into the claim process after an impasse has resulted. Most public adjusters charge a percentage of the settlement. Primarily, public adjusters review your insurance policy to determine if there is coverage for the loss, assess the cause of loss which will trigger coverage, prepare detailed scope and cost estimates many times using experts in the fields of remediation, toxicology, and construction contractors and engineers to prove their loss. Public adjusters also provide insurance policy interpretation to determine covered and uncovered items and to negotiate with the insurance Carrier to a final and fair settlement.
Insurance bad faith is a legal term of art unique to the law of the United States that describes a tort claim that an insured person may have against an insurance company for its bad acts. Under United States law, insurance companies owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to the persons they insure. This duty is often referred to as the "implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing" which automatically exists by operation of law in every insurance contract.
Insurance law is the practice of law surrounding insurance, including insurance policies and claims. It can be broadly broken into three categories - regulation of the business of insurance; regulation of the content of insurance policies, especially with regard to consumer policies; and regulation of claim handling.
Professional liability insurance (PLI), also called professional indemnity insurance (PII) but more commonly known as errors & omissions (E&O) in the US, is a form of liability insurance which helps protect professional advice- and service-providing individuals and companies from bearing the full cost of defending against a negligence claim made by a client, and damages awarded in such a civil lawsuit. The coverage focuses on alleged failure to perform on the part of, financial loss caused by, and error or omission in the service or product sold by the policyholder. These are causes for legal action that would not be covered by a more general liability insurance policy which addresses more direct forms of harm. Professional liability insurance may take on different forms and names depending on the profession, especially medical and legal, and is sometimes required under contract by other businesses that are the beneficiaries of the advice or service.
Insurance in the United States refers to the market for risk in the United States, the world's largest insurance market by premium volume. Of the $4.640 trillion of gross premiums written worldwide in 2013, $1.274 trillion (27%) were written in the United States.
Independent insurance agents, also known as insurance sales agents or "producers", typically sell a variety of insurance and financial products, including property insurance and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance.
HIH Casualty and General Insurance Ltd v Chase Manhattan Bank[2003] UKHL 6 is an English contract law case, concerning misrepresentation.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) was created in 2002 from the merger of two other entities to provide both windstorm coverage and general property insurance for home-owners who could not obtain insurance elsewhere. It was established by the Florida Legislature in Chapter 627.351(6) Florida Statutes as a not-for-profit insurer of last resort, headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, and quickly became the largest insurer in the state. The company has no connection to Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the equivalent entity in Louisiana, or several similarly named "for-profit" subsidiaries in the Hanover Insurance Group.
Insurance regulatory law is the body of statutory law, administrative regulations and jurisprudence that governs and regulates the insurance industry and those engaged in the business of insurance. Insurance regulatory law is primarily enforced through regulations, rules and directives by state insurance departments as authorized and directed by statutory law enacted by the state legislatures. However, federal law, court decisions and administrative adjudications also play an important role.
State National Companies, Inc., is a specialty provider of property and casualty insurance operating in two niche markets, Program Services and Lender Services. The company is licensed to do business in all 50 states and D.C.
