Glossary of terms used on this site
Term | Definition |
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Accidental Death Benefit | In a life insurance policy, benefit in addition to the death benefit paid to the beneficiary, should death occur due to an accident. There can be certain exclusions as well as time and age limits. |
Activities of Daily Living | Bathing, preparing and eating meals, moving from room to room, getting into and out of beds or chairs, dressing, using a toilet. |
Actual Cash Value | Cost of replacing damaged or destroyed property with comparable new property, minus depreciation and obsolescence. For example, a 10-year-old sofa will not be replaced at current full value because of a decade of depreciation. |
Actuary | |
Adjuster | |
Admitted Assets | Assets permitted by state law to be included in an insurance company's annual statement. These assets are an important factor when regulators measure insurance company solvency. They include mortgages, stocks, bonds and real estate. |
Agent | Individual who sells and services insurance policies in either of two classifications:
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Aggregate Limit | |
Annuitization | Process by which you convert part or all of the money in a qualified retirement plan or nonqualified annuity contract into a stream of regular income payments, either for your lifetime or the lifetimes of you and your joint annuitant. Once you choose to annuities, the payment schedule and the amount is generally fixed and can't be altered. |
Annuitization Options | Choices in the way to annuities. For example, life with a 10-year period certain means payouts will last a lifetime, but should the annuitant die during the first 10 years, the payments will continue to beneficiaries through the 10th year. Selection of such an option reduces the amount of the periodic payment. |
Annuity | An agreement by an insurer to make periodic payments that continue during the survival of the annuitant's) or for a specified period. |
Attained Age | Insured's age at a particular time. For example, many term life insurance policies allow an insured to convert to permanent insurance without a physical examination at the insured's then attained age. Upon conversion, the premium usually rises substantially to reflect the insured's age and diminished life expectancy. |
Automobile Liability Insurance | Coverage if an insured is legally liable for bodily injury or property damage caused by an automobile. |