Answers,beforeyouneedthem.

A settlement basis that pays replacement cost minus depreciation for age and wear, rather than what it costs to replace the item today.

Cheaper premium, smaller cheque. On an older roof the depreciation can exceed half the replacement cost.

A party added to your liability policy so that your coverage responds to claims arising from your work on their behalf.

Landlords and general contractors usually require it by contract. Getting the wording wrong can void the protection they think they have.

The most a policy will pay in total across all claims during the policy period, as distinct from the limit available for any single claim.

Two moderate claims early in the year can exhaust the aggregate and leave you effectively uninsured for the rest of it.

Coverage for lost income and continuing expenses while your premises are unusable after a covered property loss.

Often the largest part of a serious property claim, and frequently insured for a period far shorter than a rebuild actually takes.

A clause requiring the building to be insured to a set percentage of its replacement cost, commonly 80, 90, or 100 percent.

Insure below it and the carrier reduces every claim payment by the same proportion, on small claims as well as total losses.

Policy wording under which legal defense costs are paid out of your liability limit rather than in addition to it.

A contested lawsuit can consume the limit in fees before a settlement is even discussed.

An amendment attached to a policy that adds, removes, or changes coverage from the standard form.

The declarations page tells you what you bought. The endorsements tell you what you actually have.

Coverage placed with non-admitted carriers for risks the standard admitted market declines to write.

Necessary for some accounts, but many sit there for years after the reason has gone, paying surplus lines pricing unnecessarily.

Wording that removes something from coverage which the policy would otherwise have covered.

Two policies with identical limits and premiums can differ enormously once the exclusions are compared.

A multiplier applied to workers compensation premium that reflects your claims history against others in the same classification.

An error in your class code or a miscoded claim inflates the modifier, and it compounds at every renewal until corrected.

A separate deductible, usually a percentage of the insured value, that applies only to damage from a named tropical storm or hurricane.

On a $600,000 home a five percent named storm deductible is $30,000 before the policy pays anything.

An endorsement covering the extra cost of rebuilding to current building codes rather than to the standard the building was originally built to.

Without it, code upgrades after a loss on an older building come out of your pocket in full.

A settlement basis that pays what it costs to repair or rebuild with materials of similar kind and quality at today's prices, without deduction for depreciation.

The difference between rebuilding and being handed a cheque that does not cover rebuilding.

Individually listed and valued items on a homeowners policy, typically jewelry, art, firearms, or collections.

Unscheduled, these categories are usually capped around $2,500 in total no matter what the pieces are worth.

The carrier's right to pursue a third party who caused a loss it has already paid you for.

Contracts sometimes ask you to waive it. Doing so without telling your broker can breach the policy.

Liability coverage that sits above the limits of your underlying home, auto, or business policies.

Usually inexpensive relative to the protection added, but worthless if the underlying limits do not meet the umbrella's requirements.

Wording that reduces or removes coverage once a building has been unoccupied beyond a stated period, often sixty days.

Catches landlords between tenants and owners mid-renovation, exactly when a building is most exposed.

An endorsement giving up the carrier's right to recover from a specific third party, usually required by a contract.

Commonly demanded in commercial leases and construction contracts. Signing one without the endorsement in place is a problem.