Glossary

Drilling mud is usually synonymous with drilling fluid. Drilling mud (or mud) is composed of water-based, oil-based, and synthetic-based fluids used in drilling operations, particularly fluids that contain large amounts of suspended solids, emulsified water, or oil.

A drilling rig is a large structure with equipment used to drill oil wells and natural gas extraction wells. Drilling rigs can be mobile equipment mounted on trucks or trailers, or more permanent land- or marine-based structures (such as onshore or offshore platforms).

Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) of 1994 prohibits a state department of motor vehicles from disclosing an individual's personal information, except as specifically allowed by the DPPA.

A drive other car (DOC) endorsement (CA 99 10) is a commercial auto endorsement designed to provide nonowned auto coverage under a commercial auto policy similar to that which would be provided under a personal auto policy (PAP). The Drive Other Car Coverage—Broadened Coverage for Named Individuals (CA 99 10) endorsement is commonly used when an executive officer, for example, does not carry personal auto insurance because he or she is furnished a company auto. Coverage under the endorsement would come into play in the event the individual designated in the endorsement (including his or her resident spouse) is driving a nonowned auto for personal use. Coverage under the endorsement does not apply if the auto in question is owned by that individual or by any member of his or her household; or the auto is used by either of these individuals while working in a business of selling, servicing, repairing, or parking autos.

A drone, or unmanned aircraft, is an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft. In addition to the most obvious uses for delivery and photography, drones have been adopted by risk managers and insurance companies to perform a variety of functions that improve productivity and safety in the field, such as claims adjusting in disaster areas, wildfire suppression, inspections, and documentation.

Dropped medical malpractice claims refers to the phenomena that the most frequent outcome of a medical malpractice claim is that it will be "dropped" (i.e., abandoned) by the claimant, rather than either settled or adjudicated in a court of law. Medical malpractice claims are dropped for a number of reasons, including (in order of frequency from highest to lowest) (1) the case against the doctor turns out to be weaker than originally believed; (2) the claim involves multiple defendants, only some of whom are dropped from the claim; (3) changes in prevailing medical treatment standards (i.e., a doctor's method of treatment at the time of the claim was of state-of-the art quality, yet subsequent advances in medical technology made such treatment appear substandard); (4) changes in the plaintiff's condition (typically for the better); and (5) plaintiff's lack of candor with his/her attorney. Although they result in no indemnity payments, dropped medical malpractice claims do involve significant costs. (A dropped claim involves a claim against a single individual or entity, whereas a dropped case involves a claim against multiple individuals or entities.)

A drop down provision is a clause in umbrella policies providing that the umbrella will "drop down" over reduced or exhausted underlying policy aggregate limits. Some umbrellas maintain their own coverage terms when they drop down; others assume those of the primary policy.

Druggist liability insurance is a form of professional liability insurance protecting the druggist against suit arising out of the filling of prescriptions, misdelivery of drugs, and other operations.

A dry pipe sprinkler system is an automatic sprinkler system that can be used in an unheated building without risk of freezing and subsequent bursting of pipes, because the system fills with water only when the sprinkler heads are triggered by the heat of a fire.

A dual agency refers to a situation in which an individual may serve as an agent for two parties in the same transaction. For instance, court cases have held that insurance brokers can function as agents of (and therefore owe legal duties to) both insureds and insurers in the same transaction.