Glossary of Terms

The Resource Center provides a glossary of insurance terms to help you understand the various insurance wordings that may appear in your quotes, cover notes & policies.

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Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Property and Casualty

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

General Agency System

The marketing of Life Insurance through general agents.

General Agent (GA)

An individual appointed by a Life or Health insurer to administer its business in a given territory. He is responsible for building his own agency and service force, and is compensated on a commission basis, although he possibly has some additional expense allowances.

Grace Period

A prescribed period, usually 30 to 31 days from the premium due date, during which an insurance contract is in force and the premium may be paid.

Graded Death Benefits

A provision in Life Insurance contracts for death benefits that, in the early years of the contract, are less than the face amount of the policy, but that increase with the passage of time. Most commonly found in juvenile policies issued at or near age zero.

Graded Premium

A modified Life Insurance policy for which the initial premium is low, and then increases in steps over a period of time (usually five years), after which it becomes a level premium.

Graduated Life Table

A mortality table in which the experience has been smoothed out by a formula.

Gross Premium

The premium for participating in Life Insurance. If an insured elects to use his dividends to pay premiums, this becomes the net premium when dividends are subtracted from it. Contrast with Net Premium.

Group Certificate

The document provided to each member of a group plan. It shows the benefits provided under the group contract issued to the employer or other insured.

Group Contract

contract of insurance made with an employer or other entity that covers a group of persons identified by reference to their relationship to the entity buying the contract. The group contractual arrangement is generally used to cover employees of a common employer, members of a trade association or trusteeship, members of a welfare or employee benefit association, members of a labor union, or members of a professional or other association not formed only for the purpose of obtaining insurance.

Group Credit Insurance

Insurance on the Life or Health of debtors of a creditor, payable for reduction or extinguishment of the debts in case of the disability or death of a debtor.

Group Life Insurance

Life Insurance provided for members of a group. It is most often issued to a group of employees, but may be issued to any group provided it is not formed for the purpose of buying insurance. The cost is lower than for individual policies because administrative expenses per life are decreased and measures taken against adverse selection are effective. See also Franchise Insurance and True Group.

Group Permanent Life Insurance

A form of Life Insurance under which members of a group are provided one of several plans of Permanent Life Insurance on a group basis, instead of the more usual plan of Term Life Insurance.

Guaranteed Insurability

An option in Life and Health Insurance contracts that permits the insured to buy additional prescribed amounts of insurance at prescribed future time intervals without evidence of insurability.

Guaranteed Renewable

A contract that the insured has the right to continue in force by the timely payment of premiums, for a substantial period of time as set forth in the contract. During that period of time, the insurer has no right to make any change in any provision of the contract other than a change in the premium rate for all insureds in the same class. Contrast with Non-cancellable, from which Guaranteed Renewable should be distinguished.