SOME INSURANCE
RELATED WORDS

Agency repairs
In case of accident, your car will be taken to the agency garage – they’re the people who built the car here in the first place, so it will return as good as (if not better than!) new.

Benefits
This is the general term for payments, reimbursements and indemnities you will receive from your insurance company.

Claim
A notification to your insurance company asking them to pay out an amount in case of accident.

Chronic condition
A prolonged illness or condition which needs ongoing treatment, such as diabetes or asthma.

Coverage
This can mean a few things; often this describes the different events or circumstances in which the insurance company will provide you with money (see benefits).
In medical and travel, coverage describes the regions where the insurance will be active.

Depreciation
A reduction in value over time, often describing the difference in the price you would get between selling your car this year compared to last year.

Endorsement
Simply, this is an official change to your insurance policy.

Excess
An excess is the amount you have to pay towards the whole claim if it is your fault.

Exclusion
These are things that your insurance will not cover.

GCC cover
The Gulf Cooperation Council – a group of 6 countries, which are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Hire car
Sometimes called a ‘courtesy car’, the insurance company will provide you with an alternative vehicle so you can get around town.

Hit and run
If your car has been hit but you don’t know who by, this is called a ‘hit and run’ case, as the driver has hit your car and then run away!

Liability
The best way to think of this term is as ‘responsibility’. So when we talk about Third Party Liability, it means reimbursement for any damage to the third party you are responsible for.

Material Facts
These are pieces of information that will help the insurance provider know what is the right policy and price for you. If you don’t tell the insurance company everything or wrong information is given, it can lead to very serious problems.

Named driver
For some insurance providers, the policy requires a named driver. This is the person designated to drive that car.

Natural Perils
Often this comes in the context of covering or not covering natural perils – things like flooding and rain, fire, thunderstorm or earthquakes.

Non-disclosure, misrepresentation and false declaration
These are all pretty much the same thing! If you’re applying for insurance, you should tell the insurance company anything that will influence the price (see material facts). Failure to do this is called one of the above things.

Off Road cover
If you have a 4×4 vehicle, your insurance policy can be extended so you don’t have to stay on the roads!
Pre-existing conditions
This is an on-going medical condition you had prior to taking out a new insurance policy.

Premium
Just insurance talk for price!

Pro-rata
A refund scale whereby you are entitled to reimbursement upon cancellation of your policy as a fraction of how long you have left on the contract. So for example, if you cancel your year policy after 5 months, you’ll be entitled to 7/12ths of the premium back. Please note that often there are additional cancellation and admin charges.

Personal Accident Benefit
An optional benefit in most policies, the insurance company will provide you with compensation in case of bodily injury.

Protected no claims
Perhaps you’ve not had any crashes in the last couple of years, and you’ve got yourself some nice discounts on your insurance from these years of no claims. You can protect these discounts!

Recoverable/non-recoverable claim
Claims fall in to two categories as far as the insurance company is concerned: claims where they can recover their repair bills from another insurance company (such as the at-fault driver) or claims where they cannot (for example, you’re at fault, so your insurance company has to pay for the damages).

Reimbursement
This just means getting money back from the insurance company! This might be as one of your benefits on your policy.
In medical insurance, reimbursement means that you pay for the treatment first, and then the insurance company will pay you back – so keep your receipts.

Schengen
In insurance terms, this means that the policy is sufficient for entering Schengen countries – a group of European countries who have their own visa and personal insurance requirements.

War and Allied Perils
Check if this is excluded or included in your insurance programme – it means cover against acts of war, terrorism, strike, riot, coup d’etat, etc.

Worldwide (excluding/including US and Canada)
In travel and medical insurance, this denotes the area of cover. US and Canada are often omitted or included upon request, as their medical costs are much higher. Including these countries for your cover will cost more.