Basic Insurance Terms and Concepts

Having understood the basic meaning and concept of insurance, it might be helpful if you understood some basic insurance terms and concepts, and know how they applied to you in respect of your particular insurance policy cover.

There are various insurance terms and concepts covering every aspect of insurance policies and agreements or experience, but the following are just some of them:

Insurance policy

This is an agreement signed between you and an insurance company over a foreseen risk that might happen, with the understanding that you pay regular amounts of money to the insurance company in exchange for considerable compensation when that foreseen risk eventually occurs.

Insurance premium

An amount of money that you pay monthly, quarterly or annually to cover for your insurance policy and make it valid. Failure to pay premiums show that you are no longer covered by any insurance policy, and you are not open to any compensation if any misfortunes befall you.

Insurance claim

This is the amount of fair compensation that you seek from your insurance company when accidents or misfortunes occur. Whatever you expect to be paid in view of your misfortune is your insurance claim.

Insurance broker

This is a professional expert that you hire to oversee your insurance interests with insurance companies. A broker might be an individual and it might be a company or firm, but they are paid and act on your behalf to carry out insurance activities for you.

Insurance agents

This might be confused with a broker, but they differ. An insurance agent is a staff of an insurance company or a freelancer that sells insurance policies on behalf of insurance firms on commissions. An agent sells insurance policies, helps collect premiums and also help out with other insurance needs you have.

Deductibles

This is the sum of money that you choose to pay out of your pocket to cover for any expenses that result from an accident or misfortune, before an insurance company covers the rest of the compensation. The higher the deductibles you pay, the lower insurance companies reduce your applicable premiums.

Grace period

Applicable only to health and life insurance, this is a period of grace after the expiration of a policy during which you are allowed to renew your policy to be covered under the policy. For instance, you might be given a grace period of 5 days after the expiration of your policy and still be covered during this 5 days, while you are expected to pay up. Failure to pay your premium after this period means you are no longer covered and your policy expired.