Accrued benefits method used to calculate the actuarial liability for active members either as at the valuation date or as at the end of the control period, taking account of all types of decrement. The method allows for projected earnings up to the date of assumed retirement, date of leaving or death, as appropriate.

A word at the foot of a proposal form. The proposer agrees that the proposal and declaration shall be held to be promissory and shall be the basis of the contract. Although the proposal specifically makes the statements ‘promissory’, they do not necessarily constitute continuing warranties, making the contract voidable if contravened at any time during the policy period. The term emphasises that the proposal answers amount to express conditions (i.e. warranties in insurance parlance) as distinct from mere representations so that the replies are taken as statements of fact and not of intention. The expression may reinforce the fact that the completed proposal form and declaration form the basis of the contract.

Health and safety legislation requires floors, stairs etc., ‘shall be of sound construction and be properly maintained.

the North American term for general insurance.

An excess, usually £250, in a public liability policy applicable to claims involving loss or damage to material property.

Cover for legal costs and expenses incurred in pursuit or defence of civil actions against third parties resulting in physical damage or interference to the property and/or pecuniary loss. Cover is available for both individuals and businesses separately or as a part of a general legal expenses cover. A Buy-To-Let version of cover is available.

Package policy incorporating ‘standard cover’, with optional add-ons, for commercial property investors. The policy takes account of the particular needs of such investors by way of special features, e.g. full cover on vacant premises, subject to security; automatic cover for newly acquired premises and alterations and improvements to existing premises; lock replacement. Employers’ liability and property owners’ liability form part of the standard cover with legionellosis liability as an optional cover.

Covers the legal liability of the owner of property to third parties sustaining injury or property damage.

Public liability exclusion of the insured’s legal liability for damage to ‘that part of any property being worked on where the loss or damage is the direct result of such work. The intention is to exclude defective workmanship and the clause effectively operates as an excluded form of loss and not an cepted risk because any consequential damage will be covered.