Glossary

A borderline risk is a person, organization, or property of doubtful underwriting quality.

The Bornhuetter-Ferguson technique is an actuarial technique for developing losses to estimate their ultimate amount. An amount for expected unreported losses (derived using the reciprocal of the loss development factor (LDF)) is added to actual reported losses to obtain the estimated ultimate loss for a given accident year. The technique is most useful when actual reported losses for an accident year are a poor indicator of future incurred but not reported (IBNR) losses for the same accident year, as is often the case when there is a low frequency of loss but a very high potential severity.

The borrowed servant rule is a legal doctrine stipulating that if an employer (usually referred as the special employer) borrows a worker from another employer (usually referred as the general employer), the special employer can be held liable for the borrowed employee's actions, even though a permanent relationship doesn't exist. The borrowed servant rule applies when an express or implied contract of hire exists between the special employer and the injured worker, the worker is engaged primarily in work for the special employer, and the special employer controls the details of the work.

A boutique law firm is a law firm with a very specialized realm of expertise.

A branch captive is a captive insurance company that registers to operate in a state or country other than its domicile state. For example, an offshore captive that qualifies under Internal Revenue Code § 953(d) to be taxed as a US insurer might form a branch in an onshore captive domicile to write lines of business that it does not write in its offshore captive.

Branch profits tax (BPT) refers to an additional tax of about 30 percent payable on dividend remittance by offshore captives that are found to be engaged in trade or business in the United States.

A brands and labels endorsement is a property insurance endorsement that grants permission for the insured to remove labels from damaged goods or mark the items as "salvage," provided the goods are not damaged in the process. This alleviates concern about potential injury to the insured's business reputation resulting from the sale of salvaged goods by the insurer.

Brand equity is the consumer confidence, loyalty, and favorable reputation that a business's product or service has earned in the marketplace. A loss of or reduction of brand integrity can cause a substantial reduction in revenues and market share. Brand integrity can be damaged or lost as a result of many types of fortuitous events, such as product contamination or tampering incidents.

Brand rehabilitation involves rebuilding consumer confidence and loyalty in a business or product following a product tampering, contamination, or similar event. Such efforts generally involve substantial expenses to cover additional advertising, special promotions, and extra expenses to rush new product to market. These costs can be insured under product recall insurance.

A breach is a failure to meet or fulfill the terms and provisions contained in a contract.