IASA:
Insurance Accounting Statistical Association:
IASS:
Insurance Accounting and Statistical Society:
IBNR:
See Incurred But Not Reported:
ICA:
International Claim Association:
ICC:
Interstate Commerce Commission:
ICEDS:
Insurance Company Education Directors Society:
ICPI:
Insurance Crime Prevention Institute:
IHOU:
Institute of Home Office Underwriters:
IIA:
See Insurance Institute of America, Inc:
IIAA:
See Independent Insurance Agents of America:
IIC:
Independent Insurance Conference or Insurance Institute of Canada:
III:
See Insurance Information Institute:
IIS:
See International Insurance Seminars, Inc:
IRA:
See Individual Retirement Accounts:
IRIS:
See Insurance Regulatory Information System:
ISO:
See Insurance Services Office:
Impaired Insurer:
An insurer which is in financial difficulty to the point where
its ability to meet financial obligations or regulatory requirements
is in question:
Impairment
of Capital:
A condition in which the surplus account of a stock insurer has
been exhausted so that it must invade the capital account (amounts
contributed by stockholders) to meet liabilities: Some jurisdictions
allow a percentage invasion of capital; some do not:
Implied Authority:
Authority of an agent that the public may reasonably believe the
agent to have: If the authority to collect and remit premiums
is not expressly granted in the agency contract, but the agent
does so on a regular basis and the insurer accepts, the agent
has implied authority to do so:
Import:
Goods or services purchased from another country and brought into
one's own country:
Incurred But
Not Reported:
This refers to losses which have occurred during a stated period,
usually a calendar year, but have not yet been reported to the
insurer as of the date under consideration: For instance, insurance
company statements prepared after the end of the calendar year
would have to include an estimate of losses that occurred during
that year but have not yet been reported:
Incurred Expense:
Expenses not yet paid: Can also include paid expenses in some
accounting systems:
Incurred Loss
Ratio:
The percentage of losses incurred to premiums earned:
Incurred Losses:
The losses occurring within a fixed period, whether or not adjusted
or paid during the same period: As an example, in Workers Compensation
claims losses occur during a given policy period, but benefits
may continue to be paid for many years: The estimated value of
the total claim would be an "incurred loss" for the
policy period during which the loss occurred:
Indemnify:
To restore the victim of a loss to the same position as before
the loss occurred:
Indemnity:
Restoration to the victim of a loss by payment, repair, or replacement:
Independent
Adjuster:
An adjuster who works as an independent contractor, hiring himself
out to insurance companies or other organizations for the investigation
and settlement of claims: Independent adjusters represent the
interests of insurance companies: Contrast with Public Adjuster:
Independent
Agency System:
An insurance distribution system within which independent contractors,
known as agents, sell and service Property-Liability Insurance
solely on a commission or fee basis under contract with one or
more insurers that recognize the agent's ownership, use, and control
of policy records and expiration data:
Independent
Agent:
An agent operating as an independent contractor under the independent
agency system:
Independent
Contractor:
One who agrees to perform according to a contract and who is not
an employee:
Independent
Insurance Agents of America (IIAA):
An association of independent insurance agents historically known
to represent stock insurance companies more than mutual companies:
Members are also members of their state associations:
Index Bureau
Experience:
A measure of losses relating to claims reported through a claim
office during a 12-month period:
Individual
Risk Premium Modification Rating Plan:
A plan which modifies the premium on large package policies by
considering such factors as reduced expenses for handling costs
(Expense Modification) and special characteristics of the risk
not contemplated by the basic rate (Risk Modification):
Industrial
Risk Insurers:
A consortium of major stock property and casualty insurers formed
to write large, highly protected risks: The organization was formed
in 1975 by the merger of the Factory Insurance Association and
the Oil Insurance Association:
Inevitable
Accident:
See Accident:
Initial Premium:
An amount paid at the inception of an insurance contract, usually
subject to adjustment at the end of the policy period:
In-Patient:
A patient admitted to a hospital or other similar medical facility
as a resident patient: (G
Insolvency
Funds:
See Guarantee Funds:
Insolvent Insurer:
An insurer which is unable to meet its financial obligations:
Inspection:
Independent checking on facts about an applicant, policyholder,
or claimant, usually by a commercial inspection agency:
Inspection
Report:
A summary statement of the physical, financial, and moral attributes
of an insured or an applicant for insurance on his property: Such
reports are prepared by inspection bureaus, specialized organizations,
and insurers:
Insurability:
Acceptability to the insurer of an applicant for insurance:
Insurable Interest:
Any interest a person has in a possible subject of insurance,
such as a car or home, of such a nature that a certain happening
might cause him financial loss:
Insurable Risk:
A risk which meets most of the following requisites: (1) The loss
insured against must be capable of being defined: (2) It must
be accidental: (3) It must be large enough to cause a hardship
to the insured: (4) It must belong to a homogeneous group of risks
large enough to make losses predictable: (5) It must not be subject
to the same loss at the same time as a large number of other risks:
(6) The insurance company must be able to determine a reasonable
cost for the insurance: (7) The insurance company must be able
to calculate the chance of loss:
Insurance:
A formal social device for reducing risk by transferring the risks
of several individual entities to an insurer: The insurer agrees,
for a consideration, to assume, to a specified extent, the losses
suffered by the insured:
Insurance Carrier:
See Insurer:
Insurance Commissioner:
The head of a state's insurance regulatory agency in most jurisdictions:
In some states the title of Director or Superintendent is used:
Insurance Company:
See Insurer:
Insurance Company Education Directors Society (ICEDS):
An organization of insurance company educators whose primary purposes
are to promote insurance education and exchange information
on the subject:
Insurance Department:
A governmental bureau in each state and the federal government
in Canada charged with the administration of insurance laws, including
the licensing of agents and insurers and their regulation and
examination: In some jurisdictions the department is a division
of another state department or bureau:
Insurance Examiner:
The representative of a state insurance department assigned to
participate in the official audit and examination of an insurer:
Insurance Guaranty
Act:
The legislation enacted in many states providing for guaranty
funds for the policyholders of insolvent insurers: See Guaranty
Funds:
Insurance Hall
of Fame:
An institution created to honor those who have made outstanding
contributions to insurance thought and practice: Selections are
made on an international basis:
Insurance Institute
of America, Inc (IIA):
An organization which develops programs and conducts national
examinations in Insurance, Risk Management, Management, Adjusting,
Underwriting, Auditing, and Loss Control Management: Diplomas
are given to recognize achievement in these areas:
Insurance Policy:
The printed form which serves as the contract between an insurer
and an insured:
Insurance,
Quota Share:
See Quota Share Insurance:
Insurance Regulatory
Information System (IRIS):
Information and early-warning system used by the National Association
of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to keep track of the financial
soundness of insurers:
Insurance to
Value:
Insurance written in an amount approximating the value of the
property insured:
Insured:
The party to an insurance arrangement whom the insurer agrees
to indemnify for losses, provide benefits for, or render services
to: This term is preferred to such terms as policyholder, policy
owner, and assured: See also Named Insured:
Insured, Named:
See Named Insured:
Insurer:
The party to an insurance arrangement who undertakes to indemnify
for losses, provide pecuniary benefits, or render services: It
is desirable to use the word "insurer" in preference
to "carrier" or "company" since it is a functional
word applicable without ambiguity to all types of individuals
or organizations performing the insurance function: The word insurer
is generally used in statutory law:
Insuring Agreement
(or Clause):
That portion of an insurance contract which states the perils
insured against, the persons and/or property covered, their locations,
and the period of the contract:
Interest Rate
Risk:
A risk faced by investors who invest in bonds characterized by
an individual being locked into a lower interest rate when interest
rates are generally increasing in the economy:
Interinsurance
Exchange:
See Reciprocal Insurance Exchange:
Interline Endorsement:
Commercial endorsements that apply, or could apply, to more than
one coverage part of a package policy:
International
Insurance Seminars, Inc:
(IIS): An institution established to promote worldwide exchanges
of ideas and techniques between insurance people: The major focus
of IIS is its annual seminar which brings together academicians
and insurance practitioners:
Interstate
Carrier:
A transportation company which does business across state lines:
Investigative
Consumer Report:
A report ordered on an insured or applicant under which information
about the person's character, reputation, or lifestyle is obtained
through personal interviews with the person's neighbors, friends,
associates or acquaintances: Contrast with Consumer Report:
Investment
Company Act of 1940:
A federal law which regulates the organization and activities
of investment companies and requires the registration of investment
companies with the federal government:
Investment
Income:
The return received by insurers from their investment portfolios,
including interest, dividends, and realized capital gains on stocks:
Realized capital gains means the profit realized on stocks that
have actually been sold for more than their purchase price:
Investment
Reserve:
An item in the balance sheet of an insurance company which represents
a setting aside of assets to compensate for a possible reduction
in the market value of securities owned by the company:
Item:
(1) A term used to identify a statement in a policy as to what is
insured: In a Fire policy one might refer to the contents item,
meaning the coverage in the policy which applies to the contents:
(2) An individual entry, such as a piece of jewelry, listed with
its description and valuation on a schedule by a policy showing
items covered:
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