Policy structure terms

Assignment (of a Policy)

The transfer of your rights or interest under an insurance policy to another party, which most commercial policies allow only with the insurer's written consent.

Also: assignment insurance definition · assignment of insurance policy

Auto Coverage Symbols

Numbered codes on a commercial auto declarations page that define exactly which vehicles each coverage applies to.

Also: auto coverage symbols · commercial auto symbols · business auto coverage symbols

Blanket Policy

A policy that covers multiple locations, items, or interests under a single shared limit instead of assigning a separate limit to each.

Also: blanket policy meaning · blanket coverage · blanket limit

Bodily Injury (Liability)

The General Liability coverage that pays when your business causes physical injury to a third party.

Also: bodily injury liability · BI coverage

Business Income Insurance

Business income insurance replaces revenue your company loses while operations are suspended after a covered property loss — such as a fire, flood, or theft that forces you to close temporarily.

Also: business interruption insurance · lost income coverage · BI coverage

Casualty Insurance

Casualty insurance covers financial losses your business causes to third parties — primarily through liability claims for bodily injury, property damage, or professional errors.

Also: casualty coverage · casualty lines

Causes of Loss

The part of a commercial property policy that defines which perils are covered, offered in basic, broad, and special forms.

Also: causes of loss form · causes of loss - special form · CP 10 30

Collateral Insurance

Insurance a lender requires on property pledged as collateral, protecting the lender's interest if the asset is damaged or the borrower lets coverage lapse.

Also: collateral insurance meaning · collateral protection insurance · CPI insurance · lender-placed insurance

Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance covers physical assets your business owns or leases — equipment, office space, inventory — when they are damaged, destroyed, or stolen.

Also: business property insurance · commercial building insurance · business property coverage

Commercial Umbrella Insurance

A policy that adds an extra layer of liability limit on top of your underlying general liability, commercial auto, and employers liability coverage, paying only after those primary limits are used up.

Also: umbrella insurance · umbrella policy · commercial umbrella

Completed Operations

The part of a general liability policy that covers injury or damage caused by your work after that work is finished and away from your premises.

Also: Products-Completed Operations Hazard · completed operations coverage

Conditions

The rules you must follow for your coverage to apply.

Contingent Business Income Coverage

Coverage for income you lose when a supplier or customer you depend on suffers a loss that disrupts your business.

Also: contingent business interruption · contingent business income coverage · CBI insurance

Contractual Liability Exclusion

An exclusion that removes coverage for extra liability you took on by signing a contract, beyond what the law would have made you responsible for on its own.

Also: contractual liability exclusion · contract exclusion · assumed liability exclusion · Contract X exclusion

Declarations Page

The summary page of your policy listing your named insured, limits, dates, and premium.

Employed Lawyers Coverage

A management-liability extension that protects a company's in-house attorneys against professional liability claims arising from the legal services they provide to their employer.

Also: employed lawyers coverage · employed lawyers liability · employed lawyers professional liability · in-house counsel coverage

Endorsement

An amendment that modifies your policy's terms, coverage, or exclusions—and controls how vendor requirements are fulfilled.

Entity Coverage (D&O Side C)

Entity coverage, also called Side C, is the part of a Directors and Officers policy that protects the company itself rather than its individual directors and officers.

Also: entity coverage · Side C coverage · Side C · entity securities coverage

Exclusion

A specific situation or loss that your policy does not cover.

First-Party vs Third-Party Insurance

First-party coverage pays for your own losses; third-party coverage pays for claims others make against you.

Also: First party coverage · Third party coverage

Follow Form

An excess or upper-layer policy that adopts the same terms, conditions, and exclusions as the underlying policy it sits above.

Also: follow form insurance · follow-form excess · following form

Hired and Non-Owned Auto (HNOA)

Commercial auto liability coverage for vehicles your business rents (hired) and personal vehicles employees drive for company business (non-owned), even when your startup owns no cars of its own.

Also: hired and non-owned auto · HNOA insurance · hired and non-owned auto coverage · non-owned auto liability insurance

Incontestable Clause

A life insurance provision barring the insurer from voiding the policy over application errors after a set period, usually two years.

Also: incontestability clause · incontestable period · the incontestable clause allows an insurer to

Insured Person

The defined class of individuals a management-liability policy protects, typically the company's past, present, and future directors, officers, and often employees when acting in their capacity for the organization.

Also: Insured Persons · Individual Insured

Insured vs Insured Exclusion (D&O)

A D&O exclusion that bars coverage when one insured (e.g., the company) sues another insured (e.g., a director or officer).

Also: IvI Exclusion · Insured vs Insured · IvI

Insuring Agreement

The section of your policy that defines what the insurer promises to cover.

Liberalization Clause

A policy condition that automatically extends any broadened coverage the insurer adopts to your existing policy at no extra premium.

Also: liberalization clause insurance · liberalization condition

Major Shareholder Exclusion (D&O)

A D&O exclusion that denies coverage for claims brought by shareholders who own more than a specified percentage of the company.

Also: Large Shareholder Exclusion · Controlling Shareholder Exclusion

Other Insurance Clause

A policy condition that decides whether your coverage pays first, pays only after other applicable policies are used up, or shares a loss proportionally when more than one policy could cover the same claim.

Also: Other Insurance Provision · Primary and Excess Clause · Contribution Clause

Package Policy

A single policy that combines two or more coverages, such as property and liability, into one contract.

Also: insurance package policy · packaging insurance · package policy meaning

Peril

A specific cause of loss that an insurance policy may cover, such as fire, theft, or wind.

Also: Covered peril · Named peril · All-risk

Policy (Contract)

The legal agreement that defines what's covered, what's excluded, and your responsibilities.

Pollution Exclusion

A standard clause in liability policies that removes coverage for injury, property damage, or cleanup costs caused by the discharge or release of pollutants.

Also: pollution exclusion · absolute pollution exclusion · pollution exclusion clause

Property Damage (Liability)

The General Liability coverage that pays when your business physically damages someone else's property.

Also: property damage liability · PD coverage

Severability of Interests

Severability of interests is a policy condition that applies the coverage separately to each insured, as if each were the only insured, except that the limit of insurance still applies to everyone combined.

Also: severability of interest · separation of insureds · severability clause insurance

Side A Coverage (D&O)

D&O coverage that protects directors and officers personally when the company cannot or will not indemnify them.

Also: Side A · Non-Indemnifiable Loss Coverage · Personal Asset Protection

Side A DIC (Difference in Conditions)

Side A DIC is a standalone D&O policy dedicated to protecting individual directors and officers, with its own limit that drops down when the underlying D&O program will not or cannot pay.

Also: Side A DIC · Side A difference in conditions · standalone Side A · Side A DIC coverage

Side B Coverage (D&O)

D&O coverage that reimburses the company when it indemnifies its directors and officers for covered claims.

Also: Side B · Corporate Reimbursement Coverage · Company Reimbursement

Side C Coverage (D&O)

D&O coverage that protects the company itself for securities claims brought against it.

Also: Side C · Entity Coverage · Company Securities Coverage

Special Perils

The broadest property coverage basis, insuring all direct physical loss except causes the policy specifically excludes.

Also: special perils · special form · open perils · all-risk

Supplementary Payments

Supplementary payments are certain defense-related costs an insurer pays on top of your policy limit, so they do not reduce the money available to settle a claim.

Also: supplementary payments insurance · supplementary payments coverage · supplementary payments coverages A and B

Third-Party Insurance

Coverage that pays for claims made by other people or businesses against you—as opposed to first-party coverage that pays for your own losses.

Also: Third Party Liability Insurance · Third Party Coverage · Liability Insurance · 3rd Party Insurance · Third Party Liability · Interested Party Insurance