Glossary

Partial disability insurance refers to a disability income policy provision that provides partial benefit payments (usually 50 percent of the total disability limit) for a limited time period (usually 6 months) when the insured is partially disabled. Under workers compensation, a partial disability is often awarded a percentage rating of permanent partial disability, which entitles the injured worker to a lump sum money settlement.

Partial loss is a property insurance term referring to a loss that does not completely destroy or render useless the insured property or does not completely exhaust the applicable insurance limit.

Partial retention refers to an organization's retention of a portion of the risk and transfer of the remaining portion. Examples include using a large deductible program or a self-insured retention (SIR) with excess insurance coverage.

A participant is an insured that utilizes a captive insurance company through a participant contract specifying the terms of participation rather than through a shareholder or member contract.

Participating in an insurance context means an insurance policy that pays dividends.

A participating policy allows the insured to receive policyholder dividends, not taxable distributions—that is, return of profits not treated as income by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but instead as return of premium.

A participating provider is a healthcare provider that has agreed to contract with an insurer or managed care plan to provide eligible services to individuals covered by its plan. This provider must agree to accept the insurance company or plan agreed payment schedule as payment in full less any co-payment.

A participating provider network is a group of healthcare providers within a specific geographic area that have agreed to provide their services to members of a specific health insurance company or plan. These providers must agree to accept the insurance company or plan agreed payment schedule as payment in full, less any co-payment.

Participating reinsurance is a generic form of reinsurance under which the reinsurer and primary insurer share losses in the same proportion as they share premiums and policy limits. Quota share reinsurance and surplus share reinsurance are the two types of participating reinsurance.

Particular average is a term used in ocean marine insurance meaning a partial loss sustained by a specified cargo or vessel. Ocean marine policies do not necessarily cover partial loss (referred to as "average" loss); those that are covered must be the result of a covered peril. Such cargo losses are usually subject to separate particular average coverage provisions.