B
Bailee
- One who has is charged with the care of the property of another.
For example, a garage is bailee of a customer’s ("bailor’s")
car (the "bailment") and a jeweler is a bailee of customers’
jewelry while in for repair or appraisal.
Bailees
customers’ insurance - Insurance designed to reimburse a bailee’s
customers for loss without regard to liability.
Bailees
floater - An inland marine form that covers — on an open perils
basis — a bailee’s interest in personal property of others.
Bailees
liability insurance - Insurance covering damage negligently caused
by a bailee or employee to goods left in their care.
Bailment
- The act of delivering property in trust to another for a limited time
and specific purpose.
Bailor
- The person delivering property to another in trust.
Bankers
blanket bond - A bond designed to indemnify for loss of money, securities,
etc., caused by: dishonesty of employees; robbery or theft from the
premises; or robbery or theft while the insured property is in transit.
Basic
causes of loss - The perils of fire, lightning, and removal of property
from premises endangered by those perils as shown in the standard 1943
New York fire policy.
Basic
named perils - Covered perils in a property insurance contract:
fire, lightning, windstorm, civil commotion, smoke, hail, aircraft,
vehicles, explosion and riot.
Beach
plans - Sometimes known as windstorm plans or pools, these are plans
devised by coastal states to insure the windstorm exposure of coastal
properties. The plans operate in a manner similar to a joint underwriting
association, with participation by all insurers operating within a state.
Bench
error - A mistake in the production process of a product that causes
a loss. Such losses are usually covered.
Betterment
- A term used to express the difference in the value of property before
loss and after restoration. If a 20-year roof is damaged by an insured
peril and it has to be replaced in its 15th year and the
restoration renews the 20-year life expectancy, the owner has obtained
a 15-year betterment in the roof. Without replacement cost insurance
on the roof, the owner is expected to reimburse the insurance company
for the "betterment" entailed in the restoration. Also see
Improvements and betterments.
BI
- A shorthand expression for "bodily injury."
Bid
bond - Guarantees an owner, the "obligee," that the accepted
contractor will actually undertake the work and that the contractor
will furnish performance, payment, and, perhaps, maintenance bonds —
or that the contractor will pay the owner the difference between the
amount of the contractor’s accepted bid and the bid of another contractor
who has to be called in to complete the project.
Binder
- An insurer’s agreement, by way of an agent, to provide non-life insurance
on the spot, pending issuance of the policy contract.
Binding
authority - The authority extended to an agent by an insurer
to provide insurance, usually on a temporary basis, until a policy can
be written.
Blanket
bond - An employee dishonesty or fidelity bond covering all persons
of a group or class; as opposed to bonds naming specific individuals
(name schedule) or positions (position schedule).
Blanket
coverage - A means of insuring various items of property under one
limit of liability.
Blanket
insurance - Insurance covering multiple items of property as a group.
Covered property may be at one location or several.
Bobtailing
- A trucking term that means the driving of the tractor portion of a
semi after the trailer has been delivered and removed. A special trucking
endorsement, Truckers Insurance for Non-Trucking Use, may be necessary
when bobtailing.
Bodily
injury - A term that refers to physical injury, sickness, or disease,
or death resulting therefrom. In some jurisdictions "bodily injury"
includes emotional injury.
Bodily
injury liability - Legal obligation that flows from the injury or
death of another person. This insurance is commonly limited to bodily
injury liability derived by way of negligence, but coverage of liability
by way of contract (holding another harmless) is also possible.
Boiler
& machinery insurance - Fired vessels, steam generators, mechanical
and or electrical objects and turbines, are all examples of "objects"
that might be listed for coverage under a boiler and machinery policy.
Coverage is for damage to covered property caused by an accident to
an object identified in the policy’s schedule. Coverage includes extra
expense, automatic 90-day coverage at new locations, defense against
liability claims, and supplementary payments like those provided under
public liability policies.
Bond
- A document for expressing surety. A bond engages three entities; the
"surety" (bonding company) sells the bond to the "principal"
for the purpose of paying the amount the principal will owe to the "obligee"
upon failure of the "principal" to perform some act or provide
some service under agreed terms.
Bond,
fidelity - A bond that guarantees the principal’s honesty.
Bond,
surety - A surety bond is the financial assumption of responsibility
by one or more persons for fulfilling another’s obligations.
Book
of business - The accounts written by an agent or company. It can
be ex-pressed in a number of ways such as "total book" of
business, "book of auto business," "homeowners business,"
etc.
BOP
(Businessowners policy), see Businessowners policy.
Bordereau
- A written schedule of insureds, premiums, and losses submitted to
reinsurers under certain types of reinsurance agreements.
Boycott
- Another practice defined as "unfair" under most states’
codes. Such a practice which occurs when someone in the insurance business
refuses to do business with someone else until that person complies
with certain conditions or concessions.
Broad
form perils - A property insurance designation for coverage that
extends beyond the basic named perils.
Broad
form property damage endorsement - A commercial general liability
endorsement that removes the care, custody, or control exclusion relating
to the property of others and replaces it with a less stringent one.
Broker
- One who represents the insured in arranging insurance. A broker may
also serve as the agent of an insurance company. Typically, a broker
does not have binding authority.
Builders
risk insurance - A variation of property coverage specifically applicable
to construction projects. It is commonly written in an amount to cover
the value of the structure when completed. The premium charged takes
into account that values at risk increase gradually over the term of
the policy.
Bumbershoot
- A form of coverage similar to an umbrella, having to do with ocean
marine risks.
Business
Auto Policy (BAP) - A standardized contract for writing liability
and property coverage on commercial autos.
Business
income coverage - Insurance protecting the income derived from an
insured’s business activities when curtailed by a covered peril. Coverage
includes reasonable extra expense the insured undertakes to expedite
return to business operations.
Business
income, dependent properties - Covering loss to an insured when
the operations of a key supplier, customer, or "leader property"
on which the insured’s operations are dependent, is shut down by a covered
peril. Also referred to as "contingent business income."
Business
personal property - A term relating to "contents" of a
commercial enterprise. It may include furniture, fixtures, machinery
and equipment as well as stock, all other chattels owned by the insured,
and even use interest in building improvements and betterments.
Businessowners
policy (BOP) - A package of property and liability insurance for
small and medium size businesses, the BOP owes its origin to the success
of the homeowners policy.
"Buy-Back"
deductible - A deductible that may be eliminated for an additional
premium in order to provide "first-dollar" coverage.
