Mercantile risk

A term most often used in Property Insurance meaning a retail or wholesale risk as contrasted with a service risk, a manufacturing risk, or a habitational risk.
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Hazard or peril or a merchant in selling his stock of goods.

Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Pollution) Act 1994

Extends strict liability for oil pollution damage to all ships carrying persistent oil whether as fuel or cargo. In the event of discharge or release the shipowner is strictly liable for: damage outside the ship by contamination; the cost of preventative measures; and damage caused by the preventative measures. The right of shipowners to limit their liability is not affected. The Act recommends liability insurance but, unlike CLC, does not make it compulsory.

Merchant Shipping Act 1995

A consolidating Act dealing with, inter alia, liability for oil pollution, compulsory insurance, the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund and the liability of shipowners and others. The Act embodies the 1976 Convention on the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. It also enables the government to act when a shipping casualty threatens large scale oil pollution in UK waters. Government-caused damage to vessels is covered under the International Hull Clauses.

Merger

(1) The absorption of one company by another. (2) The principle that when a partial loss under an insurance policy is followed by a total loss the insurers are not required to pay for the partial loss in addition to the total loss.

Merit rating

A form of auto rating in which an insured’s past experience as well as anticipated experience is taken into account when arriving at a rate.
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A rating plan most often used in personal automobile insurance. Under this plan, the insured’s premium amount is dictated by the insured’s loss record.
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Rating system, used in several forms of Insurance but most commonly in automobile Insurance, under which an insured’s premium varies depending on each insured’s loss record. Usually similar to individual rating.