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Glossary of Insurance Terms

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death benefit
The amount of money paid or due to be paid when a person insured under a life insurance policy dies. This amount does not include adjustments for outstanding policy loans, dividends, paid-up additions, or late premium payments. See also basic death benefit and policy proceeds.

death claim
A request for payment under the terms of a life insurance policy.

debit
See territory.

debits
In the numerical rating system, debits represent underwriting factors that have an unfavorable effect on an individual's mortality rating. Debits are assigned positive values. See also credits and numerical rating system.

debtor-creditor groups
A group composed of lending institutions -- banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, finance companies, retail merchants, and credit card companies -- and their debtors. See also group creditor life insurance.

decreasing term insurance
A type of term life insurance in which the amount of coverage decreases during the term of coverage.

decrement
A reduction in the number of participants in a pension plan caused by factors such as retirement, disability, death, or termination.

deductible
The amount of money you must pay up front each year to cover your medical care expenses before your insurance policy starts paying.

deferral date
A date some time after the first anniversary of a group insurance policy to which an insurance company defers the payment of the policy's first renewal premium. An insurance company might defer this payment so that it could use the full first year's experience to help calculate the new premium.

deferred annuity
(1) A series of payments in which the first payment is postponed (deferred) for one or more periods. (2) An annuity contract under which premiums are accumulated at interest but the annuity payment period is postponed (deferred) for one or more periods. See also deferred life annuity and group deferred annuity.

deferred compensation plan
A plan established by an employer to provide benefits to an employee at a later date, such as after the employee's retirement.

deferred life annuity
A deferred annuity that provides a series of payments, each of which is made only if a designated person is alive.

deferred premium arrangement
In group insurance, an agreement between an insurer and a policyholder to lengthen a group insurance policy's grace period, on a permanent basis, usually by 30, 60, or 90 days. This arrangement allows the policyholder to use the deferred premium amounts for the length of time by which the grace period is extended. The arrangement is usually only granted to companies with excellent credit ratings. Also called a premium-delay arrangement.

deferred premiums
Premiums that are due after a policy's statement date but before the next policy anniversary.

Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP)
In Canada, a type of profit-sharing plan in which employer contributions, up to certain limits, are tax deductible for the employer and tax deferred for the employee, and in which the employee can withdraw the benefit before retirement. The ways that plan funds can be invested are restricted. See also profit-sharing plan.

defined benefit formula
A formula used to determine the periodic payment amounts that each participant in a defined benefit pension plan will receive at retirement. The benefit amount is often related to number of years of participation in the plan.

defined benefit pension plan
A pension plan that specifies the benefits that the plan promises to pay to a participant upon retirement, with the benefits determined according to a specified formula. Contrast with defined contribution pension plan.

defined contribution formula
A formula that describes the amount of money that will be deposited into a pension plan each year on behalf of each plan participant. Usually, the contribution is a specified percentage of the participant's compensation.

defined contribution pension plan
A pension plan that specifies the amount of annual contributions that the plan sponsor will make on behalf of a plan participant. A defined contribution plan does not guarantee a specific amount of retirement benefits. A participant's benefits at retirement are based on the amount that has been contributed to the participant's account, plus investment earnings. Contrast with defined benefit pension plan.

demutualization
The process of converting a stock insurance company to a mutual insurance company.

dental maintenance organization
An organization like an HMO which provides only dental care.

dentist-consultant
A licensed dentist who understands the underwriting intent of dental plan language as well as the accepted standards of dental practice, and who advises insurers as to the appropriateness of dental treatment.

dependent life insurance
Group life insurance made available to group members, usually on an optional and contributory basis, to cover the spouse, children, or other dependents of the group member. It is usually sold in small amounts which are intended to pay funeral expenses.

deposit administration contract
A funding vehicle for a pension plan in which the plan sponsor places plan assets in an insurance company's general account. When a plan participant retires, the insurer withdraws sufficient funds from the general account to buy an immediate annuity for the plan participant. A deposit administration contract usually protects the plan sponsor against investment loss and guarantees minimum investment returns. See also immediate annuity and immediate participation guarantee (IPG) contract.

deposit term insurance
A type of level term insurance that requires a substantially larger premium payment in the first year than the amount of level annual premiums payable in subsequent years.

determination letter
In the United States, a ruling by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as to whether the design of a pension plan satisfies the criteria necessary for the plan to be a qualified plan.

deviated rate
In group creditor insurance in the United States, a premium rate for a contributory plan which is higher than the prima facie rate and based on the group's actual claims experience. Insurers can charge a deviated rate only after the prima facie rate has been in effect for a certain period of time and only after being granted permission by the state insurance commissioner. Contrast with prima facie rate.

diagnostic related groups (DRGs)
In the United States, a prospective payment method used in the Medicare Program, in which payment is not based on the number and kinds of medical services that a patient receives, but instead is based on the diagnosis of each patient.

direct response distribution system
In insurance, a distribution system that relies on advertisements, telephone solicitations, and mailings to generate sales. No agents visit customers to induce sales.

direct response marketing
A method of selling insurance products directly to the consumer, usually through direct mail, advertising in print and broadcast media, or by telephone solicitation, without the use of insurance agents.

disability
Inability to work due to an injury or sickness. See also partial disability, presumptive disability, and total disability.

disability benefits
Benefits that are payable periodically while an insured continues to be disabled. "Being disabled" is generally defined in terms of inability to work. See also total disability.

disability buy-out insurance
Insurance that provides cash funds to a business or professional partnership so that the business interests of a totally disabled partner or stockholder may be purchased if the disability is long-term or permanent.

disability income insurance
A type of health insurance designed to compensate insured people for a portion of the income they lose because of a disabling injury or illness. Generally, benefits for disability income insurance are provided for the disabled person in the form of monthly payments. Sometimes called loss of time insurance. See also long-term disability income insurance and short-term disability income insurance.

disability table
(1) A tabulation of the probabilities of becoming disabled at each age, plus certain related figures. (2) A tabulation of the number of persons who are still disabled at each age and the duration of disability, plus certain related figures.

disabled life annuity
A series of payments, each of which is contingent on a person being alive and still disabled.

discharge provision
Part of a small estates statute which releases an insurance company from liability under an insurance contract if it pays the proceeds to the deceased insured's estate. See small estates statutes.

Discontinuity Index
A test required by the NAIC Model Life Insurance Disclosure Regulation and designed to disclose instances in which policy illustrations have been manipulated so that they present an unrealistic progression of premiums, dividends, and benefits.

disintermediation
The process of removing money from a financial intermediary in order to earn a higher yield somewhere else, usually with another financial intermediary. Historically, disintermediation, through policy loans or surrendered policies, has been a major problem for life and health insurers during periods of economic depression and high inflation.

distress termination
In pension and employee-benefit plans, the curtailment of a plan which does not have sufficient funds to cover all the benefits to which the plan's participants are entitled. Contrast to standard plan termination. See also involuntary plan termination and voluntary plan termination.

distribution expenses
Expenses involved in making insurance products available to the general public. These expenses include agent compensation, group sales representatives' salaries, and postal, printing, and telecommunications expenses for those companies that use direct response marketing.

distribution system
In an insurance company, the network of organizations and individuals that performs all the marketing activities required to convey a product from an insurer to its customers.

dividend
(1) A refund of excess premium paid to the owner of an individual participating life insurance policy. Such a dividend is paid out of an insurer's divisible surplus. Also called a policy dividend or a policyowner dividend. See also divisible surplus. (2) The portion of a group insurance premium that is returned to a group policyholder whose claims experience is better than had been expected when the premium was calculated. Also called experience rating refund, experience refund, and retroactive rate reduction. (3) A periodic payment paid by a business to a stockholder. Dividends paid in cash are called cash dividends. Dividends paid in the form of additional shares of stock are called stock dividends.

dividend accumulations
Amounts that result when a policyowner decides to leave the policy dividends owed to him or her on deposit with the insurer. Also called dividend credits.

dividend expenses
When an insurer calculates policyowner dividends, dividend expenses represent the amount of money that it costs the insurer to maintain each policy in force for the current year.

dividend interest rate
The interest rate that represents the actual rate being earned on an insurer's present investments. The dividend interest rate is used to calculate policyowner dividends.

dividend options
Several alternatives that participating policyowners can choose from to indicate the manner in which they want to receive their share of the insurance company's divisible surplus. See accumulation at interest option, additional term insurance option, automatic dividend option, cash payment option, dividend accumulations, enhancement type policy, paid-up additions, and premium reduction option.

dividend rate of mortality
The rate of mortality (for a given age) that an insurer chooses to use in calculating policyowner dividends. The dividend rate of mortality is the mortality rate currently experienced by the insurer on the policies it has sold.

divisible surplus
The portion of an insurance company's earnings that is available for distribution to the owners of the company's participating policies. See also surplus.

doctrine of reasonable expectations
A doctrine applied by some courts under which the reasonable expectations of policyowners and beneficiaries will be honored, even though the language of the policy does not literally support these expectations.

domestic corporation
From the point of view of a particular state in the United States, a company incorporated under the laws of that state. Compare to alien corporation and foreign corporation.

double indemnity
Death benefit coverage that pays an additional benefit equal to the basic death benefit of the policy if the insured's death is accidental. See also accidental death benefit (ADB) rider.

dread disease policy
See limited coverage policy.

drinking criticism
An underwriting term for evidence of alcohol abuse or alcoholism.

dual-choice provision
In the United States, part of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 which requires employers that meet certain specifications to offer health insurance through a federally qualified HMO as an alternative to a traditional health insurance plan.

dual registration
The licensing of registered representatives with more than one broker-dealer.

duplicate coverage inquiry (DCI) form
In the United States, a form filled out by a health insurance company claim office and sent to another company in order to ascertain whether an accident or injury for which the first company has received a claim is also insured by the second company.

Written by the Insurance Center

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