in reinsurance, a deposit of the whole or part of the premiums paid by a cedant company with that company as surety for payment by the reinsurer (also called treaty deposit).

Amounts deposited by reinsurers with cedants to help finance the reinsurers’ proportion of claims. The amount retained is usually such proportion of the agreed premium. The deposit is released annually in arrears.

Also called a community deposit company it means an insurance company (other than a pure reinsurer) whose head office is not in an EC State and which has made a deposit in a member State other than the United Kingdom in accordance with regulatory requirements. If the deposit is lodged in the UK the company is called a UK deposit company.

A financial instrument that derives its value from an underlying asset (equity, bon or commodity) or an underlying index. A weather derivative is linked to an index derived from a weather variable such as temperature and addresses the volume risk of weather-sensitive firms. Financial derivatives are used as a tool to manage financial price risks. They consist of: forward contracts, tailor-made contracts to eliminate the risk of some form of price uncertainty; futures contracts, exchangetraded standard forward contracts; swaps, a package of forward contracts simultaneously arranged; options, financial markets equivalent of an insurance policy. These contracts allow entities to hedge against future price changes or take positions to offset the impact of unwelcome price changes or other specified conditions.

Some statements e.g. ‘the lorry will deliver coal,’ describe the risk rather than warrant it. The clause operates like an exclusion in that it suspends cover when the actual use is not as described. Cover reattaches when normal use, i.e. delivering coal, resumes. A warranty would terminate cover, not suspend it, at the moment of breach (Farr v. Motor Traders (1920)).

Motor policies state the insurer will not be liable for loss whilst the vehicle was being used otherwise than in accordance with the ‘Description of Use’ contained in the policy. This description is also printed on the certificate of insurance. See CLASS OF USE.

Liability for injury, loss or damage arising out of the design, plan, formula or specification of goods. Public liability and products liability policies tend to exclude these risks where the work is done for a fee as this may indicate that the risk is more properly insured under a professional indemnity policy. Where a fee is not normally payable there is no exclusion and ‘non-professionals’ remain covered for third party injury or damage as defined in the policy. This is important as liability may automatically attach to ‘non-professionals, e.g. retailers, under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or the Consumer Protection Act 1987. See also PATTERNS, MODELS, MOULDS DESIGNS. AND

A clause in the JCT Standard Form of Building Contract with Contractors Design 1998 making the building contractor responsible for the design of the building. The clause seeks to put the contractor’s design liability on the same footing as that of the architect or other professional, i.e. on the basis of a duty of reasonable care. The clause does not call upon the contractor to effect insurance but the contractor’s design liability can be insured in the professional indemnity market.

The FSA’s Conduct of Business Rules relate mainly to firms carrying on ‘designated investment business. This includes dealing in, arranging and advising on shares, bonds, options and derivatives and the like and also long-term insurance. It does not include general insurance contracts. See ICOB.

Professional body so designated by the Treasury under FSMA, s.326. The Law Society, for example, supervises and regulates the exempt professional firms under its jurisdiction. A DPB must cooperate with the overall regulator, the FSA.