Indemnify:
Provide financial compensation for losses.
Indemnity:
In general, means reimbursement for loss, but also is used
to mean a benefit provided by a policy. In health insurance
it sometimes is used to designate an amount paid regardless
of actual loss or expense incurred.
Identity Theft Coverage:
Coverage for expenses incurred as the result of an identity
theft. Can include costs for notarizing fraud affidavits
and
certified mail, lost income from time taken off from work
to meet with law-enforcement personnel or credit agencies,
fees for reapplying for loans and attorney’s fees to
defend against lawsuits and remove criminal or civil judgments.
Incurred But Not Reported Losses (IBNR):
Losses that are not filed with the insurer or reinsurer until
years after the policy is sold. Some liability claims may
be filed long after the event that caused the injury to occur.
Asbestos-related diseases, for example, do not show up until
decades after the exposure. IBNR also refers to estimates
made about claims already reported but where the full extent
of the injury is not yet known, such as a workers compensation
claim where the degree to which work-related injuries prevents
a worker from earning what he or she earned before the injury
unfolds over time. Insurance companies regularly adjust reserves
for such losses as new information becomes available.
Incurred Losses:
Losses occurring within a fixed period, whether or not adjusted
or paid during the same period.
Independent Agent:
Agent who is self-employed, is paid on commission, and represents
several insurance companies. (See Captive
Agent.)
Inflation Guard Clause:
A provision added to a homeowners insurance policy that automatically
adjusts the coverage limit on the dwelling each time the policy
is renewed to reflect current construction costs.
Inland Marine Insurance:
This broad type of coverage was developed for shipments that
do not involve ocean transport. Covers articles in transit
by all forms of land and air transportation as well as bridges,
tunnels and other means of transportation and communication.
Floaters that cover expensive personal items such as fine
art and jewelry are included in this category. (See Floater.)
Insolvency:
Insurer’s inability to pay debts. Insurance insolvency
standards and the regulatory actions taken vary from state
to state. When regulators deem an insurance company is in
danger of becoming insolvent, they can take one of three
actions:
place a company in conservatorship or rehabilitation if the
company can be saved or liquidation if salvage is deemed
impossible.
The difference between the first two options is one of degree.
Regulators guide companies in conservatorship but direct
those
in rehabilitation. Typically the first sign of problems is
inability to pass the financial tests regulators administer
as a routine procedure. (See Liquidation; Risk-Based
Capital.)
Inspection Report:
A report filed by an investigator employed by the insurance
company or a credit agency, giving general information on
the health and finances of the applicant and the physical
condition of the property (if property is to be insured).
Insurable Risk:
Risks for which it is relatively easy to get insurance and
that meet certain criteria. These include being definable,
accidental in nature, and part of a group of similar risks
large enough to make losses predictable. The insurance company
also must be able to come up with a reasonable price for the
insurance.
Insurance:
A system to make large financial losses more affordable by
pooling the risks of many individuals and business entities
and transferring them to an insurance company or other large
group in return for a premium.
Insurance Pool:
A group of insurance companies that pool assets, enabling
them to provide an amount of insurance substantially more
than can be provided by individual companies to ensure large
risks such as nuclear power stations. Pools may be formed
voluntarily or mandated by the state to cover risks that
can’t
obtain coverage in the voluntary market such as coastal properties
subject to hurricanes. (See Beach
and Windstorm Plans; Fair
Access to Insurance Requirements Plan–FAIR Plan; Joint
Underwriting Association–JUA.)
Insurance Regulatory Information System (IRIS):
Uses financial ratios to measure insurers’ financial
strength. Developed by the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners. Each individual state insurance department
chooses how to use IRIS.
Insurance Score:
Insurance scores are confidential rankings based on credit
information. This includes whether the consumer has made
timely
payments on loans, the number of open credit card accounts
and whether a bankruptcy filing has been made. An insurance
score is a measure of how well consumers manage their financial
affairs, not of their financial assets. It does not include
information about income or race. Studies have shown that
people who manage their money well tend also to manage their
most important asset, their home,
well. And people who manage their money responsibly also
tend to handle driving a car responsibly. Some insurance
companies
use insurance scores as an insurance underwriting and rating
tool.
Insurance-to-Value:
Insurance written in an amount approximating the value of
the insured property.
Insured:
A person covered by an insurance policy.
Internal Fraud:
An act of deception or strategy used to deceive or cheat an
insurer by an employee, including misrepresentation or concealment.
Internet Insurer:
An insurer that sells exclusively via the Internet.
Internet Liability Insurance:
Coverage designed to protect businesses from liabilities that
arise from the conducting of business over the Internet, including
copyright infringement, defamation, and violation of privacy.
Investment Income:
The income generated by a company’s portfolio of investments
(such as bonds, stocks or other financial ventures).
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