Definition of "Tontine"
Early life insurance that provided benefits only to survivors who lived to the end of a certain period of time. In the mid-17th century, Lorenzo Tonti, an Italian, devised a scheme to raise money for the French government of Louis XIV. It involved a state lottery in which the oldest survivor would collect the pot. One woman, age 96, hit the jackpot shortly before her death. Tontine policies were introduced in the U.S. in the 1860s, but condemned in the Armstrong investigation in 1905 in New York State and subsequently outlawed everywhere 45 years later.
Popular Insurance Terms
Judgment decision by the insurance agent concerning whether or not to submit an application. The decision is based on the agent's familiarity with the insurance company's underwriting ...
Ratio of the company's investment in noninvestment grade bonds dividend to its adjusted surplus. This ratio shows how vulnerable the company's surplus is to the market fluctuations in ...
Type of surety bond that is either a fiduciary or a court bond. Fiduciary Bond guarantees that individuals in a position of trust will safeguard assets belonging to others placed under ...
Investments restricted to short-term Treasury bills (T-bills) and repurchase agreements secured by Treasury bills. These T-bills are secured by the full faith and credit of the Unites ...
Measure of the sensitivity of the insurance company's liability to changing policy surrender distributions. ...
Means of distribution that uses general agents rather than branch offices to sell life and health insurance. ...
Detail showing distribution of property coverages written by an insurance company. Illustrates a potential danger of concentration of insured risks. ...
Clause in some disability income insurance policies under which there is a maximum an insured can receive from all sources of disability income benefits. For example, the clause may ...
Representation of ownership rights such as stocks. ...
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