Insurance glossary
Terminology can be confusing. That's why we've created this handy insurance glossary which explains common insurance terms in plain English.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Accident | An event causing injury to an insured person and was not intended by them to happen |
| Actuary | Someone with professional training in mathematical and technical aspects of insurance, especially calculating premiums |
| Broker / adviser | Someone who specialises in insurance. They may have arrangements with more than one insurer so they can place their client's business where it best suits the client |
| Claim | A request for payment according to the policy terms made by the policy owner to the insurer |
| Cover | The amount of protection an insurance policy provides |
| Exclusion | A provision in a policy that excludes cover for certain events or conditions, E.g. dangerous pastimes or pre-existing conditions for life insurance |
| Insured | Someone covered by an insurance policy |
| Memorandum of transfer | The document that records a change of ownership on a policy |
| Nominated / joint second owner | A person who you've chosen to receive benefits payable from your policy |
| Policy document / policy wording | A document outlining terms and conditions of insurance agreement for a specific insurance policy |
| Policy owner | The person who owns the policy - this can be the person who is insured, or someone else. The policy owner is able to request changes to their policy |
| Policy summary | Document detailing your policy benefits |
| Policy schedule | The document that states the benefits of your policy |
| Premiums | The regular payments made to an insurer in order to keep the policy going |
| Renewal | The insurer and policy owner agree to continue insurance from one risk period to the next |
| Sum insured/cover level/benefit | The amount the insurer agrees to pay out under the policy's terms |
| Term | The period of time your policy is intended to run: until your death, for a specified number of years, or until a specified age |
| Underwriter | Someone who assesses the risk of providing insurance to the person applying |