Insurance Glossary | Insurance Terms beginning with 'C'

The equity amount or "savings" accumulation in a whole life policy. Claim Notification to an insurance company that payment of an amount is due under the terms of the policy.

The Business Auto policy does not extend coverage to employees and their family members if the company furnished vehicle is operated outside the scope of the employer's permission or if the employee rents or borrows a vehicle on a personal basis which is not owned, rented, or borrowed by the business. Also, even in those instances in which coverage extends to the employee under the Business Auto policy, protection is subject to the policy limits, which must be shared with the named insured ( The Employer).

For example, an employer's permission for use of a company vehicle may not extend to employee vacation or other personal activities or to use of the vehicle by members of the employee's family. Even if permission is granted for personal use of the vehicle, the Business Auto policy covers only vehicles owned, rented, or borrowed by the named insured. No coverage extends to vehicles rented or borrowed by an employee on a personal basis.

Individuals who drive a company furnished vehicle must make other insurance arrangements to protect against these coverage gaps in the Business Auto policy. Four alternatives are available:

Expanding the Personal Auto Policy -- Those employees who own one or more personal vehicles in addition to operating a company-furnished car must insure the personal vehicles under a Personal Auto policy. This normally excludes liability and physical damage coverage for the operation of a vehicle furnished for the insured's regular use, but this exclusion may be eliminated by attachment of an Extended Non-Owned Liability Endorsement. This grants coverage for the insured and spouse for operation of a company furnished vehicle and for operating any non-owned vehicle.

Named Non-Owner Coverage -- Individuals who own no personal vehicles may acquire a Personal Auto policy with a Named Non-Owner Endorsement. This provides coverage for the named individual and other listed family members while operating a non-owned vehicle, including a company furnished vehicle. Most carriers prefer not to issue the Personal Auto policy with this endorsement on the presumption that the premium is inadequate; no owned vehicle exists to act as the rating basis.

Expanding the Business Auto Policy -- Those individuals who operate their business as a proprietorship with all vehicles, both personal and business titled in the business name should add the Individual Named Insured Endorsement to the Business Auto policy. This includes family members of the individual named insured as insureds for the operation of both owned and non-owned automobiles, thus providing the same coverage under the Business Auto policy as is applicable under the Personal Auto policy.

In the absence of this endorsement, coverage still would apply to the individual named insured with the named insured's permission. The recommended endorsement extends coverage to allow family members to operate vehicles owned, hired, or borrowed by the named insured without permission.

Adding "DOC" to the Business Auto Policy -- A final alternative for providing non- ownership coverage for those persons operating a company furnished car is the Drive-Other-Car Endorsement to the Business Auto policy. This includes listed individuals and their spouses as insureds for the operation of automobiles hired or borrowed by the listed individual.

Depending on premium, coverage applies for liability, medical payments, uninsured motorists, and physical damage. The endorsements should be used when the scheduled individual is not the named insured, thus precluding the use of the Individual as Named Insured Endorsement.

Because of the coverage gaps under the Business Auto policy, it is essential that additional coverage be provided for individuals and their resident relatives while operating a company furnished vehicle.

This form of liability insurance provides coverage for bodily injury and property damage rising from completed or abandoned operations, provided the incident occurs away from premises owned or rented by the insured.

When all operations to be performed by or on behalf of the insured under contract have been completed.
When all operations to be performed by or on behalf of the insured at the site of the operations have been completed.
When the portion of work out of which injury or damage rises has been put to its intended use by a party other than the contractor or subcontractor.

Owned Automobiles - Covers liability rising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of automobiles.
Hired Automobiles - Covers liability for the use of hired automobiles in your business.
Non-Owned Automobiles - Covers liability for the use of non-owned automobiles in your business. An example would be an employee using his/her own car on an errand for you.
Uninsured Motorists - Protects insureds who are not contributorily negligent against bodily injury caused by negligent uninsured motorists.
Comprehensive - Pays for damage to or the loss of automobiles from perils other than collision. A deductible applies.
Collision - Pays for damage to or the loss of automobiles from upset or collision with another object. A deductible applies.

Under this form of insurance and regarding a covered occurrence, the company will pay all sums the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages due to:

The insurance company has the right to defend any suit against the insured seeking damages on account of such bodily injury or property damage, even if any of the allegations of suit are groundless, false or fraudulent, and to make such investigation and settlement of any claim or suit as it deems expedient. However, the company is not obligated to pay any claim or judgement or to defend any suit after applicable limit of the company's liability has been exhausted by payments of judgements or settlements

Under this form of insurance and regarding a covered occurrence, the company will pay all sums the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages due to:

1. Bodily injury (Coverage A)
2. Property damage (Coverage B)
The insurance company has the right to defend any suit against the insured seeking damages for bodily injury or property damage, even if any of the allegations of suit are groundless, false, or fraudulent, and to make such investigation and settlement of any claim or suit as it deems expedient. However, the company is not obligated to pay any claim or judgment or to defend any suit after the applicable limit of the company's liability has been exhausted by payments of judgments or settlements.

One of the most common problems in Condominium policies is their nonconformance to the basic legal documents of the condominium. Almost all condominium declarations or bylaws treat the matter of insurance with some specificity.

Any condominium board that approves an insurance policy not conforming to the condominium instruments runs a serious risk of legal action being taken against it in the event of a claim not fully honored by the insurance carrier.

The major source of protection available to a condominium board against the perils of nonconforming insurance policies is through an endorsement to the master policy conforming the coverage to the requirements of the condominium instruments, notwithstanding provisions or omissions to the contrary in the master policy itself.

(2)Waiver of the Right to Avoid Liability For a Loss Caused By an Act of the Condominium's Board, a Member Thereof, or an Individual Unit Owner

Deliberate acts of arson or gross negligence on the part of a unit owner might render the master policy unenforceable. The unit owner would in effect be recovering for his/her own negligence. An endorsement that the master policy cannot be nullified by an act of a unit owner, board of directors, or someone employed by the condominium should be included.

Since it is probable that some continuing construction activities may still take place, coverage should be given for this additional exposure.

The policy itself will be specifically amended to included coverage for the following items:

(a) Outdoor swimming pools, fences, diving platforms, light poles, tennis courts, retaining walls not constituting part of a building, walks, roadways, and other paved surfaces.
(b) Underground pipes and plumbing constituting part of lawn sprinkler systems.
(c) Outdoor signs, whether or not attached to a building or structure.

Lewis-Chester Associates, Inc., is a leading writer of insurance for condominium associations and condominium unit owners. We have been doing this for many years and have learned where the "gaps" in Condominium coverage are! Little attention seems to be given to certain personal exposures, additional premium charged to include this protection.

If you are involved in a separation/divorce situation, a no-cost coverage amendment may be necessary to extend your policy's personal liability coverages to both spouses.
(2) Babysitting, Snow Shoveling, Etc.

Coverage for your liability arising out of certain "for profit" activities -- even if done by your children or other household residents -- may not be covered in the normal Homeowners' or Condominium Unit Owners' policy, unless such coverage is specifically added.
The additional charge is typically less than $5.00 per year, and can extend to the following representative situations: babysitting, snow shoveling, lawn mowing, leaf raking, sales of homemade foods, garage sales, certain "fellow employee" damage and injuries, etc.
(3) Condominium Loss Assessment

Members of a condominium association may be assessed additional fees by their board of directors for unexpected expenses that exceed the association's operating budget or funds. These additional expenses could be due to uninsured losses, insurance deductibles, losses in excess of the limits of insurance, pollution liability, etc. As a unit owner, you may be assessed for your portion of these expenses, which could be many thousands of dollars.
If such assessments are necessary due to accidental loss that should be covered by the condominium association's commercial insurance policy and is not, you could be covered if you have a certain coverage part added to your Condominium Unit Owners' policy. This coverage typically costs only $.58 per $1,000.00 of coverage per year!
This "missing" coverage would also respond for liability claims, including directors' and officers' liability respecting your membership on your own condominium association's board of directors, providing you are in an elected position and you serve without remuneration.
Call us for a free quotation for a correctly written Condominium Unit Owners' policy without the coverage "gaps" mentioned above!

Consequential loss or damage -- as opposed to direct loss or damage -- is indirect loss or damage resulting from loss or damage caused by a covered peril, such as fire or windstorm. In the case of loss caused where windstorm is a covered peril, if a tree is blown down and cuts electricity used to power a freezer and the food in the freezer spoils, iIf the insurance policy extends coverage for consequential loss or damage then the food spoilage would be a covered loss. Business Interruption insurance, extends consequential loss or damage coverage for such items as extra expenses, rental value, profits and commissions, etc.

The "premises" portion of your liability insurance provides for payment on your behalf of all sums you become legally obligated to pay as damages resulting from bodily injury and/or property damage caused by an insured peril and rising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of premises and your operations in progress.
The "operations" portion of your liability insurance covers operations in progress and is intended for situations where your principal business operations are performed away from your premises.
(2)Completed Operations

This portion of your liability insurance covers you for possible liability for bodily injury and/or property damage after your work is complete and you have left the job site.

Co-insurance is an arrangement by which the insured, in consideration of a reduced rate, agrees to carry an amount of insurance equal to a percentage of the total value of the property insured.

An example is if you have guaranteed to carry insurance up to 80% or 90% of the value of your building and/or contents, whatever the case may be. If you don't, the company pays claims only in proportion to the amount of coverage you do carry.

The following equation is used to determine what amount may be collected for partial loss:

A captive insurance company is an insurance company that has been set up to provide coverage at a lower cost than available by going through the general insurance market. The company's stock is controlled by one interest or a group of related interests so as to provide coverage for their business operations. A captive insurance company may be a nonadmitted, nonresident, or foreign insurer. Sometimes it may provide reinsurance to a self-insure or a domestic company.

It is common in construction and other agreements (written or oral) for one party to "assume" the liability of another. This is sometimes referred to as a "hold harmless" agreement. The extent to which one holds another harmless varies from contract to contract, job to job, etc.

To assume the liability of another, regardless of extent, is a voluntary undertaking which increases your exposure to loss. A standard Commercial General Liability policy does cover this additional exposure subject to certain exclusions.

In the event of claim by one insured for which another insured covered by the same policy may be held liable, this endorsement covers the insured against whom the claim is made in the same manner as if separate policies had been issued. However, it does not operate to increase the insurance company's overall limit of liability.