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MCS-90 -
This is the "Endorsement for Motor Carrier Policies of Insurance
for Public Liability under Sections 29 and 30 of the Motor Carrier Act
of 1980." The endorsement assures that the trucker is using insurance
to comply with the financial responsibility requirements of the act.
Maintenance
bond - Guarantees that faulty work or defective materials charged
to the bond principals will be corrected or replaced. A maintenance
bond may be included among the terms of a performance bond.
Malicious
mischief, see Vandalism.
Malpractice,
see Professional liability.
Managing
General Agent (MGA) - An agent standing between an insurer and other
agents. The MGA sells to retail agents, who then sell to the consumer.
MGAs often are said to have the "pen" because they are given
the authority to accept, underwrite, and price submissions received
from retail agents.
Manufacturers
and Contractors liability (M&C) - The premises and operations
liability exposures of manufacturers and contractors covering third
parties for bodily injury or property damage negligently inflicted in
the course of daily activities.
Manufacturers
Output Policy (MOP) - Policy originally designed to cover property
of a manufacturer being processed at another company; it covers personal
property away from the premises on an open perils basis.
Manufacturers
selling price clause - Clause stating that finished goods are valued
for insurance purposes at their selling price rather than their cost
of manufacture.
Manuscript
policy - An insurance policy covering property or liability exposures
(or both) that is uniquely assembled from standard or specially created
forms to suit the needs of an insured.
Marine
insurance - Insurance primarily concerned with transportation exposures
and property that is commonly moved around from place to place. In America,
the field is divided between Inland marine and Ocean marine.
Maritime
coverage - Crew members of vessels are subject to Admiralty Law
and may sue their employers for work-related injuries because state
workers compensation laws do not apply to them. Therefore, special coverage
must be purchased for this exposure.
Market
value - The price at which insured property could have been sold
just prior to its loss or damage. Along with "cost new minus use
deprecation," market value is but another gauge used to determine
the loss settlement to which an insured is entitled. The insured may
choose the gauge that produces the most favorable outcome.
Market
value appraisal - An appraisal to determine the market value of
a building and related personal property.
McCarran-Ferguson
Act - Passed by Congress in 1945, this act states that regulation
and taxation of insurance by the states is in the public interest, and
that congressional silence should not be construed as a barrier to state
regulation.
Medical
malpractice - Type of insurance protecting physicians, surgeons,
nurses, and other medical practitioners against claims alleging failure
to perform.
Medical
payments insurance - A coverage found in auto and liability policies
that pays medical expenses to injured persons without regard to liability.
Merit
rating - A form of auto rating in which an insured’s past experience
as well as anticipated experience is taken into account when arriving
at a rate.
Minimum
premium - An insurer’s lowest charge for an insurance policy.
Misrepresentation
- Generally, misstatement of facts made on an application for insurance.
May also be misstatement of coverage made by an agent to an insured.
Mobile
equipment - Included for coverage under the commercial general liability
form, this term relates to land vehicles used in ways that take them
out of an explicit "automobile liability" exposure (e.g.,
vehicles used only on the insured premises, to carry certain permanently
attached equipment, that are not required to be registered, or are designed
for solely for off-road use).
Model
bill - A bill drawn up for insurance regulatory purposes by the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners, with the recommendation
that it be implemented by the states.
Monoline
policy - An insurance policy covering one subject of insurance,
as opposed to a combination or multiline policy.
Monopolistic
state fund - Five states have their own system for providing reparations
to injured employees eligible under the state’s workers compensation
act. Private insurance companies may not compete. The states are North
Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Moral
hazard - As "physical hazard" relates to susceptibility
to fire or wind, the term "moral hazard" relates to susceptibility
to loss through moral lapse of the owner (e.g.,"Burn the house
down and collect from the insurance company before losing it in a foreclosure
to the finance company.").
Morale
hazard - The term "morale hazard" addresses the issue
of an apathetic insured (e.g., "It’s insured, let it burn.")
Mortgage
holders clause - A standard property policy provision that creates
elements of a separate contract between a mortgage company and an insurance
company. Any loss to building or structures will be paid to the mortgage
company and insured jointly and any act of the insured voiding coverage
will not affect the mortgage holder without it first being given an
opportunity to com-ply with the insurer’s needs.
Motor
Carrier Act of 1980 - A federal law that de-regulated the United
States trucking industry and transferred the enforcement of financial
responsibility requirements for truckers to the Bureau of Motor Carrier
Safety, U.S. Department of Transportation. Insurance is one method of
complying with the financial responsibility requirements.
Motor
truck cargo policy - Two forms of inland marine coverage are associated
with this title, one for carriers and one for owners. As a carrier,
the insured is protected for legal liability relating to property of
others in the course of transport. As an owner, the insured is protected
for in-transit damage to its own property.
Motor
vehicle record (MVR) - An official record of a driver’s accidents
and traffic violations kept by the licensing state(s). Often used to
determine eligibility and/or premiums for auto insurance.
Multi-line
era - During the first half of the twentieth century, insurers were
licensed to write property insurance or liability insurance but not
both. Two insurers were needed to write automobile liability and physical
damage insurance, for example, in a contrivance called a "combination
policy." Not long after World War II, states began licensing insurers
to write both forms of insurance introducing what was then called the
"multi-line era."
Mutual
insurance company - A cooperative insurance company organized and
owned by its insureds.
Mysterious
disappearance - A named peril in some forms. Either theft or unexplained
disappearance of covered property from a known location may activate
coverage.
