In reinsurance, this term is applied to the nouns: insurer, insured, policy and insurance and means respectively: 1) the insurance company that initially originates the business, i.e., the ceding company; 2) the policyholder insured by the primary insurer; 3) the initial policy issued by the primary insurer to the primary insured; 4) the insurance covered under the primary policy issued by the primary insurer to the primary insured (sometimes called “underlying insurance”).
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Basic, fundamental; an insurance policy that pays first with respect to other outstanding policies.

A clause whereby the Reinsurer agrees that he will be Directly liable to the original assured in the event that the reassured is unable to pay a loss.
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UK: A clause under which the reinsurer agrees to pay losses directly to the insured. The clause is rarely used.

The term used in some reinsurance markets outside the U.S. to mean the retention of the primary company in a reinsurance agreement.
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Legal preference.

A priority cession is Reinsurance which is ceded before Ceding to the Company’s normal treaties.