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| UMBRELLA COVERAGE—a form of liability insurance that provides additional coverage limits above underlying liability policies. A Personal Umbrella policy serves as excess to one's Homeowners, Personal Auto, etc., and a Commercial Umbrella is excess above a CGL, Business Auto Policy, etc. True umbrella coverage is also generally broader in scope than the underlying policies and will drop down and pay certain types of losses not covered by the underlying policies above a SELF-INSURED RETENTION incurred by the insured. (Also see EXCESS LIABILITY INSURANCE.) |
| UNDER-INSURANCE—a condition in which not enough insurance is carried to cover the insurable value and especially to satisfy a COINSURANCE clause |
| UNDERWRITER—the most common meaning is an employee of an insurance company who has the responsibility for accepting or rejecting risks and determining in what amounts their insurance should be written, and at what price. Also refers to the insurance carrier that assumes (or “underwrites”) the risk. Many independent insurance agencies also have an underwriter position, and this employee is generally involved in pre-qualifying agency clients based on the underwriting criteria of the various insurers the agency represents. |
| UNOCCUPIED—containing personal property but no people. (See VACANT) |
| VACANT—generally, containing neither people nor personal property, but some insurance policies may contain their own, more specific definitions. Vacancy can affect insurance coverage—e.g., the ISO Commercial Property Coverage Form excludes coverage for certain perils when the damaged building has been vacant for at least 60 consecutive days and reduces recoveries for losses from all other perils by 15%. (See UNOCCUPIED) |
| WORKERS COMPENSATION—insurance that covers an employer's obligations to injured employees (spelled out in each state's Workers Compensation Law). Essentially, employees give up the right to sue their employers for work-related injuries, and employers give up the right to defend against claims for medical benefits and lost wages by injured workers, subject to certain exceptions and limitations. There is no overlap with the employer’s general liability policy, because it excludes workers comp related liabilities—exclusion “d” in the CGL. (See EMPLOYERS LIABILITY and Chapter 440, Florida Statutes) |
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