Avoid confusion: learn the lingo

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Around 80% of the population simply can’t make head nor tail of their insurance policies, according to a new study.

insuranceResearchers from the University of Nottingham asked people to read standard buildings and contents insurance policies aimed at small businesses.

Using eye-tracking technology and follow-up tests they found all of the documents required an A-Level education to be understood. Some even required a postgraduate level of learning.

It’s certainly true the insurance industry use many technical terms, usually for reasons of precise legal meaning, which are not always easily translated.

But whether you want to be a successful agent, claims handler or analyst, in order to land one of the top insurance roles on s1jobs, you must be able to explain these terms to the public.

So let’s look at just a few of the corkers that commonly mystify many customers.

 

Utmost Good Faith

Insurance contracts are deals that rely on both parties fulfilling a duty to reveal clearly and accurately all facts relating to the proposed insurance. Any breach of this duty by the customer may entitle an insurer to ‘repudiate liability’ – in other words, always be truthful unless you want to hear those fateful three words: “Computer says no!”

 

Material Fact

No, this is not evidence Granny Ina’s tartan leg warmers really exist. It actually refers to any fact revealed in Utmost Good Faith (see above) that could influence an insurer to accept or decline a risk or be used to fix the premium or terms and conditions of a contract.

 

Indemnity

Often misread as identity – as in Matt Damon’s The Bourne Identity – this is the principle whereby the insurer will, as far as possible, place the insured person in the same position after a loss as they occupied immediately before the theft, injury or home contents calamity.

 

Products Liability Insurance

One of particular interest for manufacturing businesses big and small, this insurance covers the cost of compensating anyone who is injured by a faulty product a company has designed, manufactured or supplied. Like a self-driving car, for example!

 

Ex-Gratia Payment

Don’t worry this has nothing to with brown envelopes and the mafia. It’s a payment given to a policyholder when their insurance company has no actual legal obligation to do so. Yes, insurance companies can be nice too!

 

For the very definition of top Insurance vacancies visit s1jobs.