The Appraisal Clause in Insurance Policies

Fire insurance and many other kinds of insurance policies contain appraisal clauses. Such clauses are included in form fire insurance policies required by state insurance regulators and are included in various other policy forms covering losses to property.

Policy Construction Against Insurer

Insurance policies are contracts drafted by insurers, but the terms are not always clear and unambiguous. When a dispute arises between an insured and an insurer as to the meaning of a policy, courts sometimes become involved to provide a construction of the ambiguous term, as they do with other types of contracts. Disputes usually involve which risks are included in coverage, exclusions from coverage, conditions that must be fulfilled before coverage applies, and forfeitures of the policy.

Rebating

What is rebating?

Insurance Law

If an insured suffers a loss for which an insurer denies coverage, the insured may attempt to recover damages from the agent or the insurer on the ground that he would not have purchased such a policy had the agent explained it to him. The action may be brought under a negligence theory. In such a case, the insured would need to prove that the agent had a duty of care to explain the policy to him.

Types of Life Insurance

Each of the two basic types of life insurance--term life insurance and non-term or permanent life insurance--has several variations. Term life insurance is for a specified period of time. Whole life insurance covers the life of a person, however long that life is.