LATEST UPDATE 2026
Loss - Answers An unplanned reduction in economic value resulting from the occurrence of a covered
peril.
Exposure - Answers The state of being subject to loss because of some hazard or contingency.
Exposure, risk - Answers High ___ means high ___
Peril - Answers The cause of a loss
Common covered perils - Answers fire, explosions, windstorm, flood, theft, collision
Hazard - Answers A condition that increases the chance of a peril
Types of hazards - Answers moral,, morale, physical
Risk Management - Answers The natural process by which people contend with the perils faced daily,
of which there are five common techniques.
Risk transfer - Answers The risk management role played by insurance
Insurable risk - Answers pure risk; loss must be definable, measurable, outside of applicant's control,
not catastrophic
Law of Large Numbers - Answers An actuarial principle that is the basis for predicting the odds of a
loss occurring in a certain population in any given year.
Domestic, Foreign, and Alien Insurers - Answers Insurers can be categorized by their state of
domicile. There are three categories, known as _____, _____, and _____.
Express, Implied, and Apparent Authority - Answers The three basic forms of agent authority are
_________, _________, and __________.
Five basic elements of a valid contract - Answers Offer, acceptance, consideration, competent parties,
and legal purpose
Errors & Omissions (E&O) Insurance - Answers A type of insurance coverage, purchased by insurance
producers, that covers losses resulting from the producer rendering (or not rendering) professional
service.
Rescission - Answers An insurer's act of declaring that an insurance policy was never in effect. An
insurance company that rescinds a policy states that it provides no coverage for a claim.
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) - Answers A federally funded insurance program that makes
flood insurance available at a reasonable cost for properties located in participating communities.
Risk Retention Group (RRG) - Answers A group of businesses that insure their risks through a single
self-insurance plan, or a group captive insurer operating under the auspices of the Risk Retention Act
(RRA) of 1986.
Representations - Answers Statements the applicant makes on an application that are deemed to be
true to the applicant's best knowledge.
Indemnity Contract - Answers Any type of insurance contract in which policy benefits are based on
actual losses.
County Mutual Insurance Company - Answers A mutual insurance company that operates in only a
limited geographic area.
Underwriting vs. Actuarial Departments - Answers Two related insurance company functions.
Through the process of underwriting, applications are assessed for insurability and to assign premium
rates. Actuarial departments analyze data to help estimate future losses and to produce rate tables.
Aleatory Contract - Answers Any type of contract (including all forms of insurance) that potentially
involves an exchange of unequal values between the two parties.
Lloyd's Association - Answers An association of individuals and companies that provide insurance to
customers with complex, unique, and very large risks.
Reinsurance - Answers The process through which insurance companies spread large risks among
other insurers.
Contract of Adhesion - Answers A type of contract (including insurance contracts) in which one party
(the offeror) drafts the terms that must be accepted as-is by the offeree.
Personal Contracts - Answers A contract that is a personal agreement between two parties and
cannot be transferred to a third party. This includes all forms of property and casualty insurance, but
not life insurance.
Social Security Insurance (OASDI) - Answers A federal insurance program that provides disability,
death, and retirement benefits to covered workers and their qualifying beneficiaries.
Insurance Producer - Answers Common term used today to refer collectively to agents and brokers.
, Mutual Insurance Company - Answers A form of insurance company owned by policyowners.
Indirect Loss - Answers A secondary loss that follows from a direct loss to insured property from a
covered peril.
Independent Agency System - Answers An insurance distribution system in which the manager and
producers are fully independent and are not affiliated with any single insurer.
Adverse Selection - Answers The tendency of persons to buy and maintain insurance who are more
likely to have a claim.
Concealment - Answers The willful nondisclosure of material facts on an insurance application for the
purpose of obtaining insurance.
Insurable Risk - Answers Not all risks are insurable. Only those that meet six insurability criteria
qualify as an ________ risk.
Department of Insurance (DOI) - Answers A common name for the state agency that is responsible
for regulating the insurance business in that state.
Risk - Answers A basic insurance term referring to the chance of incurring a loss.
Admitted Insurer - Answers An insurance company that has a certificate of authority to conduct
insurance business in a given state.
Reciprocal Insurer - Answers An unincorporated group of individuals or organizations (subscribers)
that agree to pool risks to pay the cost of retained losses and to purchase reinsurance.
Direct Loss - Answers The immediate result of an event caused by a covered peril.
Peril and Hazard - Answers Two related general insurance terms, the first of which is the cause of a
loss and the second being any condition that increases the risk or severity of a loss.
Fraternal Insurance Company - Answers A non-profit form of insurance provider sponsored by an
organization of people who share a common ethnic, religious, or vocational affiliation.
Direct vs. Indirect Loss - Answers Direct loss incurred due to property damage versus secondary loss
resulting from property damage.
Exclusive Agency System - Answers An insurance distribution system in which producers (agents)
represent a single company.
Stock Insurance Company - Answers A form of insurance company owned by stockholders who may
or may not also be policyowners.
Named Insured - Answers The person or organization that is named in the declarations as the insured
party.
Insurance Rate - Answers The price of insurance for a basic unit of exposure and the basis for
determining a policy's premium.
Loss Control Report - Answers A report describing what the applicant has done to reduce the
possibility or severity of a major loss, usually included with every inspection report.
Insurable Interest - Answers An insurance policyowner's financial interest in the person or property
being insured.
Loss Payable Clause - Answers A property insurance provision authorizing payment, in the event of
loss, to a person or entity having an insurable interest in the covered property other than the named
insured.
Actual Cash Value valuation - Answers A property insurance loss valuation method that is
replacement cost minus physical depreciation, commonly used in valuing household contents and
other personal property.
Proximate Cause - Answers The cause having the most significant impact in bringing about the loss
when two or more independent perils operate at the same time (i.e., concurrently) to produce a loss.
Masonry Veneer Construction - Answers A type of building construction in which the building's
exterior walls are made of combustible material and an outside veneer (layer) of brick or stone.
Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) - Answers Federal law that guarantees the availability of
insurance coverage against acts of international terrorism.
Split Limits approach - Answers Approach to defining policy limits, commonly used in auto insurance
policies, that combines per-person and per-occurrence limits for bodily injury liability and another
limit for property damage liability.
Named Perils - Answers One of the two ways a property insurance policy may identify the perils it
covers; this approach lists or describes the perils covered.
Difference-in-Conditions (D-I-C) policy - Answers A property insurance policy purchased in addition to
a commercial property policy to obtain coverage for perils that the commercial property policy does
not cover (e.g., flood and earthquake).