Glossary

Blanket contractual liability insurance is coverage applying to all liability assumed by the insured in contracts, whether reported to the insurer or not. The term does not address the extent of the transferred liability the policy covers, only that it is not necessary to report contracts to the insurer for listing in the policy. It is possible to have blanket broad form contractual liability insurance or blanket limited form contractual liability insurance. Contractual liability coverage was added to 1973 and earlier edition comprehensive general liability (CGL) policies by endorsement. Blanket broad form contractual liability coverage is incorporated into the basic provisions of the 1986 and subsequent CGL forms.

A blanket fidelity bond is coverage for employee theft of money, securities, or property, written with a per loss limit rather than a per employee or per position limit.

Blanket group boiler and machinery (BM) coverage applies to all equipment of a certain type. It contrasts with coverage applying only to individually described objects and with coverage applicable to all insurable objects (referred to as "comprehensive boiler and machinery coverage").

Blanket limit is a single limit of insurance that applies over more than one location or more than one category of property coverage or both. This is in contrast to specific or scheduled limits of insurance, which are separate limits that apply to each type of property at each location.

Blanket medical expense refers to a form of health insurance that pays for all medical costs subject only to a maximum aggregate benefit.

A blanket policy is a single insurance policy that covers several different properties, shipments, or locations.

Blanket position bond (BPB) is coverage for employee theft of money, securities, or property, written with a limit that applies to each position named in the policy, regardless of the number of individuals holding that position.

Blended finite risk refers to an insurance or reinsurance agreement that combines risk transfer with financial insurance by insuring against multiple causes of loss, one or more of which is underwritten on a finite basis.

Blended risk is (1) the combining of traditional reinsurance products with capital market products such as securities and futures or (2) a finite risk reinsurance program that includes a small amount of risk transfer.

Blockchain technology refers to a distributed ledger technology where the entries are made, saved, verified, and continued in order of transaction entry on each counterparty's secure computer system involved. Each entry is related to the previous entry to ensure validity and immutability of the overall transaction. Essentially, the ledger is shared by all the parties to the transaction, and it allows all of them to see and verify the complete transaction and to avoid redundancy and inconsistency. Blockchain is the technology behind Bitcoin. It is also being used in certain financial services and banking sectors. It provides for a more secure way of doing direct business between peers and requires less human intervention. It is a disruptive technology and has the potential to change the way certain business transactions are handled radically. It is also being used for certain insurance-linked products, like natural catastrophe swaps. The insurance and reinsurance industries are interested in blockchain technology because it has the potential of reducing administrative workload, eliminating frictional costs, reducing, if not eliminating, inconsistency, and improving auditability.