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
Model state statute that governs terms for surrender of individual deferred annuities and cash value life insurance. This model, adopted by most states in the late 1970s and early 1980s, ...
Provision in a life insurance policy that protects its proceeds from the beneficiary's creditors. On payment, the beneficiary loses the protection of the spendthrift trust clause and the ...
Rule that prohibits the introduction into a court of law of any oral or written agreement that contradicts the final written agreement. For example, an insurance contract containing clauses ...
Several insurance companies under common ownership and, often, common management. ...
Risk management control device used to minimize accidents and injuries to employees resulting from an unsafe working environment. For example, potential cumulative trauma disorders losses ...
Defined contribution pension plan in which employer contributions are set under a collective bargaining agreement. It usually covers the employees of a number of firms and is administered ...
Legal right of a passenger in an automobile involved in an accident to bring a liability suit against the driver. It is deemed that a special standard of care is owed by an automobile ...
Application of conventional terms and conditions to the reinsurance of a risk. Contrast with non-traditional REINSURANCE. ...
Coverage in the event of a marine loss. Marine loss is damage or destruction of a ship's hull and the ship's cargo (freight) as the result of the occurrence of an insured peril. Perils ...
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