Glossary

Automobile liability insurance protects the insured against financial loss because of legal liability for automobile-related injuries to others or damage to their property by an auto.

Automobile physical damage insurance is the coverage that insures against damage to the insured's own vehicle. Coverage is provided for perils such as collision, vandalism, fire, and theft.

An autonomous vehicle (AV) is a computer-controlled truck, bus, or auto that utilizes radar, global positioning systems, light detection and ranging, sensors, and computer vision to detect and respond to the surrounding environment and navigate safely without the need for human intervention. To qualify as a fully autonomous vehicle, it must be able to navigate without human assistance over roads and highways that have not been altered for the vehicle's use.

Auto coverage symbols are Arabic numerals (1–9 and 19 for business auto, 21–31 for garage, 41–50 and 59 for truckers, and 61–71 and 79 for motor carrier) used to denote to what category of autos a commercial auto policy's various coverages will apply. Symbols 10 (business auto), 32 (garage), 51 and 52 (truckers), and 72 and 73 (motor carrier) are custom symbols, available through the use of the Covered Autos Designation Symbol (CA 99 54) endorsement, which allows the insurer and named insured to agree to some modified wording that is a better fit in defining the term "covered autos" for the policy in question. Covered auto symbols, which are crucial in defining the policy's scope of coverage, appear in the declarations page of the auto policy next to each coverage purchased in the policy (e.g., liability, personal injury protection (PIP), auto medical payments, and uninsured and underinsured motorists (UM/UIM)). The symbols reflect the named insured's selection as to what types of vehicles are insured for that coverage (e.g., owned autos, hired autos, nonowned autos).

Average basis is one way of quantifying basis risk. The term is used to describe the average difference between portfolio losses and hedge gains. Its value is predicated on the number of portfolios used in the analysis.

Average length of stay is a standard hospital statistic used to determine the average amount of time between admission and discharge for patients in a diagnosis-related group (DRG), in an age group, in a specific hospital, or with other factors. It is also a standard hotel statistic used to determine the average amount of time between the arrival and departure of a customer.

Average rate is a single rate applying to property at more than one location that is a weighted average of the individual rates applicable to each location.

Average severity is the observed or estimated value of an average-sized claim. This is determined by dividing losses by claim counts.

The average weekly wage (AWW) is an employee's pre-injury earning capacity, based on earnings in the period directly preceding a work-related injury or illness. The formula for calculating AWW varies by state.

Aviation accident insurance protects employees of a company or other insured personnel against the peril of aircraft accident under a master policy.