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Almost all of us have insurance. When your insurer gives you the policy
document, generally, all you do is glance over the decorated words in the
policy and pile it up with the other bunch of financial papers on your desk,
right? If you spend thousands of dollars each year on insurance, don't you
think that you should know all about it? Your insurance advisor is always there
for you to help you understand the tricky terms in the insurance forms, but you
should also know for yourself what your contract says. In this article, we'll
make reading your insurance contract easy. Read on to take a look at the basic
principles of insurance contracts and how they are put to use in daily life.
Tutorial: Introduction To Insurance
Essentials of a Valid Insurance Contract
Offer and Acceptance
When applying for insurance, the first thing you do is get the proposal form of
a particular insurance company. After filling in the requested details, you
send the form to the company (sometimes with a premium check). This is your
offer. If the insurance company accepts your offer and agrees to insure you,
this is called an acceptance. In some cases, your insurer may agree to accept
your offer after making some changes to your proposed terms (for example,
charging you a double premium for your chain-smoking habit).
Consideration
This is the premium or the future premiums that you have pay to your insurance
company. For insurers, consideration also refers to the money paid out to you
should you file an insurance claim. This means that each party to the contract
must provide some value to the relationship.
Legal Capacity
You need to be legally competent to enter into an agreement with your insurer.
If you are a minor or are mentally ill, for example, then you may not be
qualified to make contracts. Similarly, insurers are considered to be competent
if they are licensed under the prevailing regulations that govern them.
Legal Purpose: If the purpose of your contract is to encourage illegal
activities, it is invalid.
Find the Value in Indemnity contracts
Most insurance contracts are indemnity contracts. Indemnity contracts apply to
insurances where the loss suffered can be measured in terms of money.
Principle of Indemnity
This states that insurers pay no more than the actual loss suffered. The
purpose of an insurance contract is to leave you in the same financial position
you were in immediately prior to the incident leading to an insurance claim.
When your old Chevy Cavalier is stolen, you can't expect your insurer to
replace it with a brand new Mercedes-Benz. In other words, you will be
remunerated according to the total sum you have assured for the car. (To read
more on indemnity contracts, see Shopping For Car Insurance and How does the
80% rule for home insurance work?)
Additional Factors
There are some additional factors of your insurance contract that also need to
be considered, including under-insurance and excess clauses that create
situations in which the full value of an insured asset is not remunerated.
Under-Insurance
Often, in order to save on premiums, you may insure your house at $80,000 when
the total value of the house actually comes to $100,000. At the time of partial
loss, your insurer will pay only a proportion of $80,000 while you have to dig
into your savings to cover the remaining portion of the loss. This is called
under-insurance, and you should try to avoid it as much as possible.
Excess
To avoid trivial claims, the insurers have introduced provisions like excess.
For example, you have auto insurance with the applicable excess of $5,000.
Unfortunately, your car had an accident with the loss amounting to $7,000. Your
insurer will pay you the $7,000 because the loss has exceeded the specified
limit of $5,000. But, if the loss comes to $3,000 then the insurance company
will not pay a single penny and you have to bear the loss expenses yourself. In
short, the insurers will not entertain claims unless and until your losses
exceed a minimum amount set by the insurer.
Not all insurance contracts are indemnity contracts. Life insurance contracts
and most personal accident insurance contracts are non-indemnity contracts. You
may purchase a life insurance policy of $1 million, but that does not imply
that your life's value is equal to this dollar amount. Because you can't
calculate your life's net worth and fix a price on it, an indemnity contract
does not apply. (For more information on non-indemnity contracts, read Buying
Life Insurance: Term Versus Permanent, Long-Term Care Insurance: Who Needs It?
and Shifting Life Insurance Ownership.)
Insurable Interest
It is your legal right to insure any type of property or any event that may
cause financial loss or create a legal liability to you. This is called
insurable interest.
Suppose you are living in your uncle's house, and you apply for homeowners'
insurance because you believe that you may inherit the house later. Insurers
will decline your offer because you are not the owner of the house and,
therefore, you do not stand to suffer financially in the event of a loss.
This example demonstrates that when it comes to insurance, it is not the house,
car or machinery that is insured. Rather, it is the monetary interest in that
house, car or machinery to which your policy applies.
It is also the principle of insurable interest that allows married couples to
take out insurance policies on the lives of their spouses - they may suffer
financially if the spouse dies. Insurable interest also exists in some business
arrangements, as seen between a creditor and debtor, between business partners
or between employers and employees.
Principle of Subrogation
Subrogation allows an insurer to sue a third party that has caused a loss to
the insured and pursue all methods of getting back some of the money that it
has paid to the insured as a result of the loss.
For example, if you are injured in a road accident that is caused by the
reckless driving of another party, you will be compensated by your insurer.
However, your insurance company may also sue the reckless driver in an attempt
to recover that money.
Doctrine of Utmost Good Faith
All insurance contracts are based on the concept of "uberrima fidei", or the
doctrine of utmost good faith. This doctrine emphasizes the presence of mutual
faith between the insured and the insurer. In simple terms, while applying for
life insurance, it becomes your duty to disclose your past illnesses to the
insurer. Likewise, the insurer cannot hide information about the insurance
coverage that is being sold.
Doctrine of Adhesion
The doctrine of adhesion states that you must accept the entire insurance
contract and all of its terms and conditions without bargaining. Because the
insured has no opportunity to change the terms, any ambiguities in the contract
will be interpreted in favor of the insured.
Conclusion
When purchasing insurance, most of us rely on our insurance advisor for
everything - from choosing a policy for us to filling in the insurance
application forms. Most people try to stay away from the boring legal terms of
insurance contracts, but it is always handy to be familiar with these words and
phrases and to become familiar with the terms of the policy you are paying for.