Glossary

The coverage trigger is the event that must occur before a particular liability policy applies to a given loss. Under an occurrence policy, the occurrence of injury or damage is the trigger; liability will be covered under that policy if the injury or damage occurred during the policy period. Under a claims-made policy, the making of a claim triggers coverage. Coverage triggers serve to determine which liability policy in a series of policies covers a particular loss.

A cover note is a document used to provide evidence of insurance if policy documents are not immediately available. This term is most commonly used outside the United States. It generally shows the name of the insurer and insured, brief details of the property or risk insured, the coverage, and the total amount of insurance. It is similar to a "binder" in US insurance parlance. It is also a binding reinsurance confirmation in the form of an "adhesive contract"—that is, not requiring signature by the ceding company to be valid. It operates like a binder/declarations page, providing details about the type of reinsurance, form of contract, lines of business reinsured, effective date, cancellation provisions and territory, commissions, and exclusions.

COVID-19, formerly referred to as the "2019 novel coronavirus" or "2019-nCoV," is one of many types of human coronaviruses that may cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , the "CO" in COVID-19 stands for "corona," "VI" for "virus," and "D" for disease. In a small percentage of cases, particularly among the immunocompromised, this disease can lead to death. This particular illness spread throughout the world beginning in 2019. Insurance claims seeking coverage for damages as a result of the virus have been made under many different lines of insurance—for example, commercial property, workers compensation, commercial liability, event cancellation, and travel insurance, with varying degrees of success.

The cradle-to-grave system is a procedure in which hazardous materials are identified and followed as they are produced, treated, transported, and disposed of by a series of permanent, linkable, descriptive documents (manifests).

Credentialing claims are a type of claim brought by a physician in which it is alleged that they have been wrongly denied staff privileges (i.e., the right to admit and treat patients) within a hospital or allied healthcare facility. The refusal to grant admitting privileges by credentialing committees is a frequent source of claims brought against both the hospitals and the individual physicians who serve on such committees by physicians who have been refused admitting privileges. Both physicians professional liability policies and hospital professional liability policy forms explicitly cover what are known as "credentialing claims."

A credentialing committee within hospitals and allied healthcare facilities reviews the professional backgrounds and educational training of physicians prior to granting them permission to admit and treat patients in hospitals/allied healthcare facilities. A grant of staff privileges also enumerates the specific treatments and procedures that the physician will be allowed to provide and perform. As part of the credentialing process, hospitals require proof of professional liability insurance, details regarding prior professional liability claims, and information concerning any underwriting action taken against a physician (e.g., cancellation of coverage). The wrongful refusal to grant admitting privileges by credentialing committees is a frequent source of claims brought by physicians against both the hospitals and the individual physicians who serve on such committees. Both physicians' professional liability policies and hospital professional liability policy forms explicitly cover what are known as "credentialing claims."

Credentialing liability generally arises from a hospital's wrongful denial of staff privileges to an otherwise competent, qualified physician or healthcare professional. Coverage for this exposure is typically afforded under a hospital directors and officers (D&O) liability policy.

Credibility, in an insurance context, is an actuarial term describing the degree of accuracy in forecasting future events based on statistical reporting of past events. It is also the weight assigned or assignable to observed data in contrast to that assigned to an external or broader-based set of data. Credibility is used to provide a measure of the relative predictive value of the data being reviewed. Weights can be determined through detailed formulas or by judgment. The weight assigned should generally increase with the number of exposure bases in the observed data and should decrease with higher levels of variability in the observed data.

Creditor group life insurance is a form of group life insurance issued to a creditor (e.g., bank, credit union) to insure the lives of its debtors in the amount of their unpaid debt. Coverage is provided for both the debtor's estate and the creditor's benefit, as the proceeds are used to discharge all of the indebtedness to the creditor.

Credit carry-forward, in a reinsurance context, refers to the transfer of credit or profit from one accounting period under a long-term reinsurance treaty to the succeeding accounting period.