Abandonment Clause
In marine insurance, clause giving an insured the right to abandon lost or damaged property and still claim full settlement from an insurer (subject to certain restrictions). Two types of losses are provided for under abandonment clauses:
- Actual total lossproperty so badly damaged it is unrepairable or unrecoverable; causes include fire, sinking, windstorm damage, and mysterious disappearance. For example, until the 1980s the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland in 1912, was deemed to be unrecoverable and the Commercial Union Insurance Company had paid its owners for their loss due to sinking. Owners of ships that mysteriously disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle have been able to collect insurance proceeds. Disappearance of pleasure craft due to drug pirates has resulted in indemnification of owners through insurance proceeds.
- Constructive total lossproperty so badly damaged that the cost of its rehabilitation would be more than its restored value. For example, a ship and/or its cargo is damaged to such a degree that the cost of repair would exceed its restored value. The insured can abandon the property if (a) repair costs are greater than 50% of the value of the property after it has been repaired and (b) the insurance company agrees to the insured's intent to abandon.
Popular Insurance Terms
Provision in an all risks inland marine policy that denies coverage for exposure to dampness and extremes of temperature. Some property, like living plants, might be particularly vulnerable ...
Duration of a policy. Property and casualty coverages are usually written for one year, although a personal automobile policy can be for six months. Life insurance can be written on a term ...
Payments made to the insured by the insurance company before the settlement date. For example, a claim is scheduled to be settled on June 1, 2000, but the insurance company pays the ...
Provision of liability policies and the liability sections of package insurance policies, such as the personal automobile policy (pap), that pay medical expenses without regard to fault. ...
Husband's interest in his wife's property upon her death. A husband has an insurable interest in that property and can purchase a property and casualty insurance policy to cover the ...
Smallest acceptable premium for which an insurance company will write a policy. This minimum charge is necessary to cover fixed expenses in placing the policy on the books. ...
Local life insurance office that sells and services ordinary life insurance as well as other forms of life insurance except debt insurance. ...
Ratio of the insurance company's investment in common stocks dividend to its adjusted surplus account. This ratio shows how vulnerable the company's surplus is to the stock market ...
Inverse of the actuarial present value of a life annuity, taking the employee's life expectancy into account, to commence income payments at the normal retirement age of the employee. It is ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.