After deducting all reinsurance recoveries, the amount of a loss that the reinsured retains net for its own account. A reinsurer may compel the reinsured to keep a minimum amount so that subsequent reinsurance purchases do not leave the reinsured with a purely nominal interest.

A pension scheme with an accrual rate greater than one-sixteenth of pensionable earnings per year of service.

Also known as ‘uplifted sixtieths’.

A value on insured property accepted by the insurer as its true value and thus not disputable in the absence of proof of fraud on the part of the insured.

An insurance company that accepts a reinsurance.

The law governing conditional fee agreements and after-the-event legal insurance (AEI) has been revised. The court can order a losing party to pay any increase in both the successful party’s normal lawyer fee and the successful party’s premium for insurance against being ordered to pay the other side’s costs. When instructed, solicitors must inform their clients of the availability of alternative funding, such as AEI.

Allows the proposer of a life insurance policy to inspect medical records. The insurer must obtain the proposer’s written consent before contacting his doctor for a report, but the proposer has the right to inspect the report before it is submitted to the insurer. If the proposer believes the report is misleading, he may request changes. If the doctor refuses, the proposer has two options: withdraw permission and risk losing the insurance offer, or add comments to the report.

Workplaces with more than ten employees, as well as all factories, are required by law to have an accident book in which employees, or others acting on their behalf, can record details about accidents and work-related illnesses. Entries serve as formal notice to the employer, who may enter his own if he believes the employee’s entry is incorrect. The entries could be used in future claims against the employer. The most recent Accident Book (published by the HSE) complies with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Accidents are recorded, but information about the individuals involved is kept separately and securely.

The calendar or accounting year in which an accident or loss occurred.

Creditor insurance that provides coverage in the event of an accident, illness, or unemployment.

See also Life, Accident, Sickness and Unemployment insurance (LASU).

An unintended, unexpected injury to the human body caused by an accident or by ordinary means that resulted in an unanticipated outcome.

For the purposes of a legal liability policy, reckless behaviour that results in an expected but unintended bodily injury is not accidental; the injury must be both unexpected and unintended from the insured’s perspective. Accidental injury usually happens at a specific time and place, but the concept of the slow accident has emerged, and conditions like deep vein thrombosis must be considered in light of policy definitions and court decisions. A person injured under a car when a jack slips has suffered an accidental injury under a personal accident policy, but back strain from an uneventful tyre change lacks fortuity and is thus not accidental.