| 释义 |
insurance
n. A contract in which one party (the insurer) agrees for payment of a consideration (the premium) to make monetary provision for the other (the insured) upon the occurrence of some event or against some risk. For such contracts to be enforceable, there must be some element of uncertainty about the events insured against and the insured must have an insurable interest in the subject matter of the contract. (The term assurance has the same meaning as insurance but is generally used in relation to events that will definitely happen at some time or another (especially death), whereas insurance refers to events that may or may not happen.) There are two types of insurance: indemnity insurance, which provides an indemnity against loss and in which the measure of the loss is the measure of payment (e.g. a fire policy); and contingency insurance, which involves payment on a contingent event and in which the sum paid is not measured by the loss but stated in the policy (e.g. a life policy). A contract of insurance is one requiring the utmost good faith (see uberrimae fidei) and is voidable if a party fails in preliminary negotiations to disclose a fact material to the risk (see nondisclosure; voidable contract). Innocent or fraudulent misrepresentation may also render the contract voidable, or the contract may be terminated for breach of an essential term (see warranty). Particular types of insurance include life assurance, fire insurance, motor-vehicle insurance (see third-party insurance), marine insurance, liability insurance, and guarantee insurance. There is considerable statutory regulation of insurance business. Insurers are either insurance companies or Lloyd’s underwriters. Insurance companies are regulated by statute, aimed, among other things, at ensuring the insurance companies have sufficient funds to meet all claims made on them. Insurance brokers negotiate insurance contracts with insurance companies or Lloyd’s underwriters on a commission basis and usually handle claims on their clients’ behalf. In the event of a claim the insured receives either the amount agreed in the policy or an appropriate sum that is calculated by an independent insurance assessor. |