Glossary

A continuance is when a hearing or trial is postponed or put off until a later date.

A continuation of coverage in bankruptcy provision is a clause in an insurance policy requiring an insurer to provide coverage even though an insured has declared bankruptcy.

The continuing undertaking rule of tort law tolls (i.e., temporarily stops from running) a statute of limitation for bringing a claim of negligence. The continuing undertaking rule is most often applied in cases when professional services have been provided over an extended period of time rather than on a single date. For example, the continuing undertaking rule would apply in the case of a client who received legal advice from an attorney during a 1-year period. In this situation, the statute of limitations is tolled until the attorney had concluded providing legal advice on this matter. The rationale for the continuing undertaking rule is that a claimant would be unable to discover the lawyer's negligence until the lawyer ceased providing advice.

A continuous contract is a form of reinsurance contract for accepting new business that does not terminate automatically but is intended to continue unless one of the parties delivers notice of intent to discontinue or termination is mutually agreed to in accordance with the termination provisions of the contract.

Continuous injury trigger is the legal principle, recognized in some jurisdictions, that ongoing or developing injury or damage "occurs" throughout its progress, thus triggering coverage under each occurrence-based policy in effect at any point in that progress.

The continuous treatment rule is a common law liability doctrine stating that if a physician has treated a patient over a period of time, only one policy limit applies—the one in force at the time the claim is made. This rule prevents a "stacking of limits" situation where the total policy limits (that were available during the entire course of treatment) could otherwise be applied to a claim of this type. The continuous treatment rule can also be applied to other professionals, most frequently to lawyers and accountants, whose services for a given case or engagement sometimes take place over several years.

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties exhibiting the following necessary characteristics: mutual assent, competent parties, a valid consideration, and legal subject matter. Insurance policies are a form of contract.

Contractors all risk insurance is used to cover damage to a project under construction on projects outside the United States. Contractors all risk is a nonstandard coverage that combines coverage for damage to the project and third-party liability arising out of the project into a single policy. Covered parties include the project owner, general contractor, subcontractors, and in some cases suppliers of materials and equipment. In rare instances, the design professional may also be an insured.

Contractors environmental liability insurance fills the coverage gaps created by pollution and related exclusions that are commonly included in the liability insurance policies purchased by contractors. Many insurers combine contractors pollution and contractors professional liability coverages into a single combined form, although, typically, coverage can be purchased for either coverage with or without the other. The coverage provided typically includes bodily injury (BI), property damage (PD), defense costs, cleanup, and restoration expenses arising from the covered operations of the contractor.

Contractors professional liability insurance is a specialized policy providing coverage for a contractor's liability for design errors or omissions. Many insurers combine contractors professional liability and contractors pollution liability coverages into a single combined form, although, typically, coverage can be purchased for either coverage with or without the other. Coverage can be written on an annual basis to cover all of a contractor's operations or on a project-specific basis to cover a contractor's design liability on a specific project.