Fourteen terms that decide claims, written the way they would be explained across a desk rather than the way they appear in a wording.
The mechanism that reduces a claim when the sum insured is less than the value at risk. It pays the same proportion of the loss that the cover bore to the value, and it applies to partial losses exactly as it does to total ones. The single most expensive term in Indian insurance.
Carrying a sum insured below what it would actually cost to replace or reinstate the property. Invisible until a loss, at which point the average clause makes the business a co-insurer of its own claim.
The insurer's written refusal of a claim. It is a position taken on a stated ground, and it can be answered, escalated and reversed within the time limits that apply.
An offer materially below what the loss cost. Far commoner than outright refusal, and easier to miss, because a payment arriving feels like a claim succeeding.
The licensed independent assessor the insurer appoints to investigate and quantify a loss. Their report largely decides the claim, and it is written from what they are shown on the day they attend.
What is left of the damaged property. It still belongs to the claim: selling or scrapping it without the insurer's written agreement on the proceeds reduces what is paid.
The insurer's right, after paying, to step into your shoes and recover from whoever caused the loss. It is why notice to a carrier matters even when you are claiming on your own policy, because losing the right to recover can cost you part of the claim.
The document acknowledging a payment in full and final settlement. Signing one while the amount is still disputed is very hard to undo, which is why nothing gets signed before it has been read properly.
A basis of valuation that pays what it costs to rebuild or replace new, rather than the depreciated value. Whether a policy is on this basis changes both the premium and the settlement, and it is written in the schedule.
The dominant, effective cause of a loss, which is what decides whether an insured peril or an exclusion applies. Not simply the last thing that happened before the damage.
The first slice of every claim that the business carries itself. It can be a flat amount, a percentage of the claim, a percentage of the sum insured, or a period of time before cover starts.
Where two policies cover the same loss, each pays its share rather than the business recovering twice. It surfaces most often between a marine policy and a carrier's liability cover.
Correspondence marked this way is an attempt to settle and is not meant to be used as an admission later. It is not a magic phrase, and it does not make an admission of liability safe.
The deadline after which a claim or a challenge can no longer be brought. Different for the insurer's grievance route, the Ombudsman and the courts, which is why escalation is done in order and on a schedule.
Last checkedThe wordings and rules these terms come from was read on 13 September 2026. Where a figure or a rule appears here it is linked to the body that publishes it, because that is the copy that stays current.
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