Long-tail Liability
One where an injury or other harm takes time to become known and a claim may be separated from the circumstances that caused it by as many as 25 years or more. Some examples: exposure to asbestos, which sometimes results in a lung disease called asbestos; exposure to coal dust, which might cause black lung disease; or use of certain drugs that may cause cancer or birth defects. These long-tail liabilities became very expensive for many corporations in the 1970s and 1980s, also causing problems for insurers because it was unclear when the situation that gave rise to the claim happened and who should pay the claim. One theory, the MANIFESTATION/INJURY THEORY, states that the insurer is responsible whenever the disease is diagnosed. The other view, the OCCURRENCE/INJURY THEORY, states that the insurer must pay only when the person is injured.
Popular Insurance Terms
Method of premium payment under which a temporary premium is charged based on projected loss experience. At the end of the year this premium is adjusted to reflect the actual loss ...
Group arrangement in which a network of attorneys provides legal services to the participants in the plan with the attorney fees being reimbursed by the provider. The attorneys who are ...
Deductible eliminated through the payment of an additional premium, resulting in first-dollar coverage under the policy. ...
Act that prohibits insurance companies, group health plans, and health maintenance organizations from establishing lifetime limits or annual limits on mental health coverage that are lower ...
Number of individuals exposed to the risk of illness, sickness, and disease at each age, and the actual number of individuals who incurred an illness, sickness, and disease at each age. ...
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. ...
Circumstance resulting when government expenditures exceed government income. To finance this difference, the United States Treasury will auction Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. In order ...
Modified participating level coverage permanent life insurance policy under which the dividends are credited to the policy, thereby reducing the premiums below that usually charged for an ...
Same as term Fortuitous Loss: loss occurring by accident or chance, not by anyone's intention. Insurance policies provide coverage against losses that occur only on a chance basis, where ...
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