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ABI
Association of British Insurers
Acceptance
letter
An offer of life assurance, setting out the terms.
Access To Medical Records Act 1988
The terms of this Act require an insurance company to obtain prior written
consent from an individual before approaching any medical practitioner for
a medical report pertaining to them. The individual has certain other rights
including the right (subject to some restrictions) to see any report before
it is submitted by the doctor.
Accidental
Death Benefit
A
provision that may be added to a life insurance policy which provides payment
of an additional benefit in the case of death resulting from an accident.
Accidental
Death and Dismemberment Loss of life or limbs through accident.
Insurance against such eventualities is generally available.
Act
of God
An
accident or event which happens independently of human intervention and
due to natural causes such as storm earthquake etc. which no human foresight
can provide against. Suggesting that an event was an "act of God" may be
a defence in English law against a claim for liability since it may be held
that it could not have been foreseen or safeguarded against.
Actively
at Work A clause in a group insurance policy that requires a new member
or one with an increase in cover, to be at work (or on holiday i.e. not
absent due to sickness, industrial action, etc.) on the day of joining/day
of increase.
Activities
of Daily
Living Everyday living functions and activities performed by individuals
without assistance. These functions include mobility, dressing, personal
hygiene and eating. The inability to undertake these activities may be used
in some circumstances to define disability in insurance contracts.
Actuary
A professional trained in the technical aspects of insurance and its related
fields, particularly in the mathematics of insurance, for example, the calculation
of premiums and reserves. An actuary will use complex mathematical methods,
often with the aid of computers, to provide analysis of claims data and
other statistics. In certain circumstances insurance companies, pension
schemes etc. are required to have documents, calculations etc. certified
by an actuary. In this and other legal contexts the word means a qualified
Fellow of the Institute or Faculty of Actuaries.
ADD
Accidental Death and Dismemberment
ADLs
Activities of daily living.
Advance Payment
Pay beforehand; up front.
Advance Underwriting
Describes a system used for underwriting members of some group schemes.
Once an underwritten member is accepted for insurance at 'ordinary rates',
they may increase their cover by a predetermined percentage in any year
without the need for further underwriting.
Agent
Someone who acts on behalf of another. Traditionally, insurance company
salesmen have often been called agents. This has led to a certain amount
of confusion since in some situations they are acting on behalf of the client
and at other times they are acting on behalf of the insurance company: the
distinction is not always clear.
All
Risks
Extension of the cover provided by household insurance to damage, theft
if outside the home, etc. in respect of individual high value items.
AMRA
Access To Medical Records Act 1988.
Annuitant
The person entitled to receive payments from an annuity contract.
Annuity
A series of payments, possibly subject to increases, made at specified intervals
until a particular event occurs. Most commonly an annuity will cease after
a specified period or upon the death of the annuitant. An annuity is most
commonly purchased by the accrued value of a pension fund, in order to secure
pension benefits in retirement.
Annuity Certain
A contract that provides payments for a specified number of years, regardless
of life or death of the annuitant
Arbitration
A means of arriving at an acceptable agreement between two disputing parties.
An independent person or body hears the arguments of both parties and makes
a decision that is then binding on all concerned. Often conducted by members
of the Institute of Arbitrators.
Association
of British Insurers
An association representing some 450 insurance companies which account for
over 95% of the business transacted by UK insurance companies. Is the forum
through which UK insurance companies collectively liase with Government
Departments and other bodies. Brings insurance companies together to set
industry standards and codes of practice.
Aviation
Hazard The extra hazard of death or injury resulting from participation
in aeronautics, usually as other than a fare-paying passenger in licensed
aircraft. For insurance, this often requires an extra premium or the exclusion
of certain risks.
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