Insurance
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"A banker is a fellow who lends his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain." --attributed to Mark Twain but not verified.
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Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss.
An entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, or insurance carrier. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as an insured or policyholder. The insurance transaction involves the insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate the insured in the event of a covered loss. The loss may or may not be financial, but it must be reducible to financial terms, and must involve something in which the insured has an insurable interest established by ownership, possession, or preexisting relationship.
The insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. The amount of money charged by the insurer to the insured for the coverage set forth in the insurance policy is called the premium. If the insured experiences a loss which is potentially covered by the insurance policy, the insured submits a claim to the insurer for processing by a claims adjuster.
See also
- Agent of Record
- Earthquake loss
- Financial adviser
- Financial services (broader industry to which insurance belongs)
- Geneva Association (the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics)
- Global assets under management
- Insurance broker
- Insurance fraud
- Insurance Hall of Fame
- Insurance law
- Insurance Premium Tax (UK)
- List of Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament, 1960-1979
- Loss-control consultant
- Reinsurance
- Intergovernmental Risk Pool
- The Invisible Bankers: Everything the Insurance Industry Never Wanted You to Know (book)
- List of finance topics
- List of insurance topics
- List of United States insurance companies
- Social security
- Uberrima fides
- Universal health care
- Welfare state
Country-specific articles: