Glossary

A basket deductible is a single retained amount designed to fund losses from multiple risks.

A basket retention is a self-insured retention applicable to more than one category of risk, such as liability and workers compensation.

A batch clause is a limitation provision, used most frequently in products liability and umbrella liability policies, that places coverage for all claims arising out of defective products produced in a single manufacturing run (or batch) within a single occurrence limit.

Beauty contest is a colloquial phrase used to describe a process in which clients have brokers, lawyers, or other firms make competing proposals for the same assignment or business.

A below-target risk (BTR) is the expected value of unfavorable deviations of a random variable from a specified target level.

BEN is the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) computer model for analyzing a violator's economic gain from not complying with the law.

Bench-scale tests refer to laboratory testing of potential cleanup technologies.

Benchmarking is the act of comparing a measurement to a standard.

A bench trial is a legal proceeding in which a case is tried before a judge rather than a jury and the judge decides both questions of law and questions of fact.

A beneficiary is a person named by the insured to receive the proceeds or benefits accruing under a life policy.