A contract whereby, for a stipulated consideration, one party undertakes to compensate the other for loss on a specified subject by specified perils. The party agreeing to make the compensation is usually called the "insurer" or "underwriter;" the other, the "insured" or "assured ;V the agreed consideration, the "premium;" the
More... A contract whereby, for a stipulated consideration, one party undertakes to compensate the other for loss on a specified subject by specified perils. The party agreeing to make the compensation is usually called the "insurer" or "underwriter;" the other, the "insured" or "assured ;V the agreed consideration, the "premium;" the written contract a "policy;" the events insured against "risks" or "perils;" and the subject right or interest to be protected, the "insurable interest" 1 Phil. Ins. ?? 1-5.
Insurance is a contract whereby one undertakes to indemnify another against loss, damage, or liability arising from an unknown or contingent event. Civil Code, Cal. f 2527; Civil Code Dak. ? 1474. See People v. Rose, 174 111. 310, 51 N. E. 246, 44 L. R. A. 124; Barnes v. People 168 111. 425, 48 N. El 91; Com. v. Wetherbee, 105 Mass. 160; State v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 30 Kan. 585, 2 Pac. 840; Com. v. Provident Bicycle Ass'n, 178 Pa. 636, 36 Atl. 197, 36 L. R. A. 589; Com. v. Equitable Ben. Ass'n, 137 Pa. 412, 18 AtL 1112; Tyler v. New Amsterdam F. Ins. Co., 4 Rob. (N. Y.) 155.
Classification.-Accident Insurance is
that form of insurance which undertakes to indemnify the assured against expense, loss of time, and suffering resulting from accidents causing him physical injury, usually by payment at a fixed rate per week while the consequent disability lasts, and sometimes including the payment of a fixed sum to his heirs in case of his death by accident within the term of the policy. See Employers' Liability Assur. Corp. v. Merrill, 155 Mass. 404, 29 N. E. 529.- Burglary insurance. Insurance against loss of property by the depredations of burglars and thieves.-Casualty insurance. This term is generally used as equivalent to "accident" insurance. See State v. Federal Inv. Co., 48 Minn. 110, 50 N. W. 1028. But in some states it means insurance against accidental injuries to property, as distinguished from accidents resulting in bodily injury or death. See Employers' Liability Assur. Corp. v. Merrill, 155 lass. 404, 29 N. E. 529.-Commercial insurance is a term applied to indemnity agreements, in the form of insurance bonds or policies, whereby parties to commercial contracts are to a designated extent guarantied against loss by reason of a breach of contractual obligations on the part of the other contracting party; to this class belong policies of contract credit and title insurance. Cowles v. Guaranty Co., 32 Wash. 120, 72 Pac. 1032, 98 Am. St. Rep. 838.-Employer's liability Insurance. In this form of insurance the risk insured against is the liability of the assured to make compensation or pay damages for an accident, injury, or death occurring to a servant or other employe" in the course of his employment, either at common law or under statutes imposing such liability on employers.-Fidelity insurance is that form of insurance in which the insurer undertakes to guaranty the fidelity of an officer, agent, or employe" of the assured, or rather to indemnify tne latter for losses caused by dishonesty or a want of fidelity on the part of such a person. See People v. Rose, 174 111. 310, 51 N. E. 246, 44 L. R. A.* 124.- Fire insurance. A contract of insurance by which the underwriter, in consideration of the premium, undertakes to indemnify the insured against all losses in his houses, buildings, furniture, ships in port, or merchandise, by means or accidental fire happening within a prcs";rbed period. 3 Kent, Comm. 370: Mutual L. Ins. Co. v. Allen, 138 Mass. 27, 52 Am. Rep. 245: Durham v. Fire & Marine Ins. Co. (C. C.) 22 Fed. 470.-Fraternal insurance. The form of life or accident insurance furnished by a fraternal beneficial association, consisting in the undertaking to pay to a member, or his heirs In case of death, a stipulated sum of money, out of funds raised for that purpose by tbe payment of dues or assessments by all the members of the association.- Guaranty insurance is a contract whereby one, for a consideration, agrees to indemnify another against loss arising from the want of integrity or fidelity of employes and persons holding positions of trust, or embezzlements by them, or against the insolvency of debtors, losses in trade, loss by non-payment of notes, or against breaches of contract See People v. Rose, 174 111.310, 51 N. E. 246, 44 L. R. A. 124; Cowles v. United States Fidelity A Guaranty Co., 32 Wash. 120, 72 Pac. 1032. -Life insurance. That kind of insurance in which the risk contemplated is the death of a particular person; upon which event (if it occurs within a prescribed term, or, according to the contract, whenever it occurs) the insurer engages to pay a stipulated sum to the legal representatives of such person, or to a third person having an insurable interest in the life of such person.-Live-stock insurance. Insurance upon the lives, health, and good condition of domestic animals of the useful kinds, such as horses and cows.-Marine insurance. A contract whereby, for a consideration stipulated to be paid by one interested in a ship, freight, or cargo, subject to the risks of marine navigation, another undertakes to indemnify him against some or all of those risks during a certain period or voyage. 1 Phil. Ins. 1. A contract whereby one party, for a stipulated premium, undertakes to indemnify the other against certain perils or sea-risks to which his ship, freight, and cargo; or some of them, may be exposed during a certain voyage, or a fixed period of time. 3 Kent, Comm. 253. Marine insurance is an insurance against risks connected with navigation, to which a ship, cargo, freightage, profits, or other insurable interest in movable property may be exposed during a certain voyage or a fixed period of time. Civ. Code Cal. ? 2655. A contract of marine insurance is one by which a person or corporation, for a stipulated premium, insures another against losses occurring by the casualties of the sea. Code Ga. 1882. f 2S24.-Plate-glass insurance. Insurance against loss from the accidental breaking of plate-glass in windows, doors, show-cases, etc-Steam boiler Insurance. Insurance against the destruction of steam boilers by their explosion, sometimes including indemnity against injuries to other resulting from such explosion.-Title usurauee. Insurance against loss or damage resulting from defects or failure of title to tt particular parcel of realty, or from the enforcement of liens existing against it at the time of the insurance. This form of insurance is taken out by a purchaser of the property or one loaning money on mortgage, and is furnished by companies specially organized for the purpose, and which keep complete sets of abstracts or duplicates of the records, employ expert title-examiners, and prepare conveyances and transfers of all sorts. A "certificate of title" furnished by such a company is merely the formally expressed professional opinion of the company's examiner that the title is complete and perfect (or otherwise, as stated), and the company is liable only for a want of care, skill, or diligence on the part of its examiner; whereas an "insurance of title" warrants the validity of tbe title in any and all events. It is not always easy to distinguish between such insur* ance and a "guaranty of title" given by such a company, except that in the former case the maximum limit of liability is fixed by the policy, while in the latter cast the undertaking is to make good any and all loss resulting from defect or failure of the title.-Tornado insurance. Insurance against injuries to crops, timber, houses, farm buildings, and other property from the effects of tornadoes, hurricanes, and cyclones.
Other compound and descriptive terms. -Concurrent insurance. That which to any extent insures the same interest against the same casualty, at the same time, as the primary insurance, on such terms that the insurers would bear proportionately the loss happening within the provisions of both policies, ubber Co. v. Assur. Co., 64 N. J. Law, 58ft 46 Atl. 777j Corkery v. Insurance Co., 99 Iowa, 382, 68 N. W. 792: Coffee Co. v. Insurance Co., 110 Iowa, 423, 81 N. W. 707, 80 Am. St. Rep. 311.-Double insurance* Sea DOUBLE.-General and special insurance. In marine insurance a general insurance is effected when the perils insured against are such as the law would imply from the nature of the contract considered in itself and supposing none to be specified in the policy; in the case of special insurance, further perils (in addition to implied perils) are expressed in the policy. Vandenheuvel v. United Ins. Co., 2 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 127.-Insurance agent* An agent employed by an insurance company to solicit risks and effect insurances. Agents of insurance companies are called "general agents" when clothed with the general oversight of the companies' business in a state or large section of country, and "local agents" when their functions are limited and confined to some particular locality. See McKinney v. Alton, 41 111. App. 512; State v. Accident Ass'n, 67 Wis. 624, 31 N. W. 229; Civ. Code Ga. 1895, S 2054.-Insurance broker. A broker through whose agency insurances are effected. 3 Kent, Comm. 260. See BBOKKB. -Insurance commissioner. A public of* ficer in several of the states, whose duty is to supervise the business of insurance as conducted in the state by foreign and domestic companies, for the protection and benefit of policy-holders, and especially to issue licenses, make periodical examinations into the condition of such companies, or receive, file, and publish periodical statements of their business as furnished by them .-Insurance earn* pany. A corporation or association whose business is to make contracts of insurance. They are either mutual companies or stock companies. A "mutual" insurance company is one whose fund for the payment of losses consists not of capital subscribed or furnished by outside parties, but of premiums mutually contributed t>y the parties insured, or in other words, one in which all persons insured become members of the association and contribute either cash or assessable premium notes, or both, to a common fund, out of which each is entitled to indemnity in case of loss. My-gatt v. Insurance Co., 21 N. X*. 63; Insurance Co. v. Hoge, 21 How. 35, 16 Lu Ed. 61; Given v. Rettew, 162 Pa. 638, 29 Atl. 703. A "stock" company is one organized according to the usual form of business corporations, having a capital stock divided into shares, which, with current income and accumulated surplus, constitutes the fund for the payment of losses, policy-holders oavin* fixed premiums and not being members of the association unless they also happen to oe stocanoiaers.-
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