Insurance Glossary

Acute Condition

Acute conditions are severe and sudden in onset. This could describe anything from a broken bone to an asthma attack.

Beneficiary 

This is a person or company that will benefit from a claim. With respect to life insurance this tends to be the next of kin or the person named to receive the pay out in the event of your death.

Chronic Medical Conditions

This is a medical condition that has no known cure. These are not typically covered under private medical insurance schemes but may require regular monitoring and treatment to relieve symptoms.

Complementary Therapies

These are treatments that fall outside mainstream healthcare. E.g acupuncture and homeopathy.

CPME - Continued Personal Medical Exclusions 

This is a type of underwriting that applies to policies switching from provider to another. As long as you can meet the insurer’s switch declaration, no new exclusions will apply to any members certificate. All existing personal medical exclusions will carry over to the new insurer unless otherwise agreed.

Death In Service 

This is another name given to “group life assurance.”

Free Cover Limit 

This is a level of benefit that does not require any underwriting. This is typical to see in group protection policies.

Full Medical Underwriting 

This is a type of underwriting that requires members to fill in a medical questionnaire. The insurer will then review this and determine whether any exclusions would apply to their cover.

MHD (Medical History Disregarded) 

This is a type of underwriting that means an individual’s previous medical history will be not discounted from cover.

Moratorium Underwriting 

This tends to be an underwriting method applied to new applicants. Any conditions suffered during a set period prior to enrolment (typically five years) would normally be excluded for a period of at least two years. It is then possible for that condition to become eligible once a set amount of time has passed and the member has been “free” of that condition and it’s symptoms. We recommend referring to your individual handbook for specific insurer definitions as they do vary.

NHS Cash benefit

Included in some PMI policies, it provides a cash incentive to individuals for using the NHS for treatment rather than using the insurance policy.

NICE

This is an abbreviation for National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. They provide guidance and advice for health, public health and social practitioners.

Open referral 

This refers to a GP referring a patient to any consultant with a particular speciality rather than explicitly naming a consultant.

PMI 

This is an abbreviation for Private Medical Insurance.

Underwriting 

This is a process in which insurers would look at the risk of an application and provide a level of cover.