Commercial Lines
Insurance
Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance. The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.
Disability
A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual. It can be partial or total / permanent or temporary.
Employee Assistance Program - (EAP)
An employment-based health service program designed to assist in the identification and resolution of a broad range of employee personal concerns that may affect job performance. These programs deal with situations such as substance abuse, marital problems, family troubles, stress and domestic violence, as well as health education and disease prevention.
HSA / MSA
An interest-bearing tax-exempt savings account established for an eligible employee that's coupled with an economical, HSA-qualified high-deductible health plan (HDHP). It's similar to an individual retirement account, except that the money in an HSA is used to pay for qualified medical expenses. / A method of financing health care by giving a tax advantage to individuals who establish and maintain personal accounts for health care purposes; similar to an Individual Retirement Account for retirement purposes.
Health Insurance
Benefits consisting of medical care (provided directly or through insurance or reimbursement) under any hospital or medical service policy, plan contract, or HMO contract offered by a health insurance company or a group health plan. Excludes accident or disability income insurance, workers compensation, automobile insurance with medical coverage, coverage for on-site medical clinics or dental or vision benefits.
Liability Insurance
Insurance coverage that offers protection against claims alleging that a property owner's negligence or inappropriate action resulted in bodily injury or property damage to another party.
Life Insurance
Protection against the death of an insured in the form of payment to a designated beneficiary.
Medicare Supplement Plans
Insurance coverage sold on an individual or group basis, which helps to fill the gaps in the protection provided by the Medicare program. Medicare supplements cannot duplicate any benefits provided by Medicare, but may pay part or all of Medicare's deductibles and co-payments, and may cover some services and expenses not covered by Medicare.
Point Of Service
A healthcare maintenance organization plan that encourages the use of participating providers but does not require it. However, members usually are charged higher deductibles and co-payments if they use providers who are not on the list. Also called an open-ended HMO.
Self-Insured Plan
An employee welfare benefit plan under which all benefits are paid either from the general assets of the sponsor of the plan, or from a trust into which the sponsor and/or participants have made contributions. Such plans generally are exempt from State law.
Workers Compensation
Benefit in which an employer provides cash payments or medical care to employees who is injured on the job. These benefits are mandated by state law and include partial wage replacement benefits and rehabilitation benefits.
Bid Bond
A Bid Bond is issued as part of a bidding process by the Surety to the project owner, to guarantee that the winning bidder will undertake the contract under the terms at which they bid.The cash deposit is subject to full or partial forfeiture if the winning contractor fails to either execute the contract or provide the required Performance and/or Payment Bonds.[2] The bid bond assures and guarantees that should the bidder offer the low bid, the bidder will execute the contract and provide the required surety bonds
Miscellaneous Bonds
License and permit bonds are those required by state law, municipal ordinance, or by regulation and in some instances by the federal government or its agencies. To be licensed, a contractor must have a bond and, in many states, a certain amount of its insurance coverage. The bond may either be one written by a Surety company or, in many states, a cash deposit made with the State. In practice, the terms “license” and “permit” are used interchangeably. The purpose of a license or permit bond is usually to safeguard the public health, welfare, morals, or assure the public’s safety. These bonds are usually for the benefit of laborers, suppliers, and taxing authorities, as well as most persons having contracts with the contractor. The amount of the bond (the “penal sum”) is the total limit of the Surety’s liability to all claimants combined. Thus, where a contractor has several claims lodged against its bond, the protection for any individual may be much less than full amount of the bond. A license or permit bond may thus provide someone with only minimal protection. Before entering into a construction contract it is wise for an owner to call the licensing agency to be sure that the contractor is in good standing with bong. Please note that all contractors should have general liability insurance, but one may only check on the status of such insurance with state agencies in those states that require the insurance for licensing.
Performance Bonds
A performance bond is a surety bond issued by an insurance company or a bank to guarantee satisfactory completion of a project by a contractor.
For example, a contractor may cause a performance bond to be issued in favor of a client for whom the contractor is constructing a building. If the contractor fails to construct the building according to the specifications laid out by the contract (most often due to the bankruptcy of the contractor), the client is guaranteed compensation for any monetary loss up to the amount of the performance bond.
Performance bonds are commonly used in the construction and development of real property[1], where an owner or investor may require the developer to assure that contractors or project managers procure such bonds in order to guarantee that the value of the work will not be lost in the case of an unfortunate event (such as insolvency of the contractor). In other cases a performance bond may be requested to be issued in other large contracts besides civil construction projects.
The term is also used to denote a collateral deposit intended to secure a futures contract, commonly known as margin.
Performance bonds are generally issued as part of a 'Performance and Payment Bond], where a Payment Bond guarantees that the contractor will pay the labour and material costs they are obliged to.
Performance bonds have been around since 2,750 BC and, more recently, the Romans developed laws of surety around 150 AD[3], the principles of which still exist.
Payment Bonds
A bond which promises to pay some or all of the persons who provide material, labor, or services for prosecution of a contract.
Subdivision Bonds
Subdivision bonds are different from more common performance bonds used for construction projects. With subdivision bonds, the owner of the project provides bonds to the public agency to guarantee the installation of improvements that will ultimately be dedicated to the public but paid for by the owner/developer.
Personal Lines
Auto Insurance
Coverage on the risks associated with driving or owning an automobile. It can include collision, liability, comprehensive, medical, and uninsured motorist coverage's.
Disability
A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual. It can be partial or total / permanent or temporary.
Health Insurance
Benefits consisting of medical care (provided directly or through insurance or reimbursement) under any hospital or medical service policy, plan contract, or HMO contract offered by a health insurance company or a group health plan. Excludes accident or disability income insurance, workers compensation, automobile insurance with medical coverage, coverage for on-site medical clinics or dental or vision benefits.
Homeowners Insurance
Insurance that protects the homeowner from "casualty" (losses or damage to the home or personal property) and from "liability" (damages to other people or property). Also referred to as hazard insurance.
Life Insurance
Protection against the death of an insured in the form of payment to a designated beneficiary.
Long Term Care
Care given in the form of medical and support services to persons who have lost some or all of their capacity to function due to an illness or disability. These services are generally provided away from the primary health care facility and are of a long time frame.
Medicare Supplement Plans
Insurance coverage sold on an individual or group basis, which helps to fill the gaps in the protection provided by the Medicare program. Medicare supplements cannot duplicate any benefits provided by Medicare, but may pay part or all of Medicare's deductibles and co-payments, and may cover some services and expenses not covered by Medicare.
Provider
A licensed health care facility, program, agency, physician, or health professional that delivers health care services. |