Glossary on General Insurance Terms starting with H

H

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE : Related to Public Liability Insurance Act 1991 meaning list of chemicals with categorized quantities as hazardous substances and published as Notification by the Central Government; the act provides for public liability insurance for purposes of providing immediate relief to the affected person/s by accident occuring during the handling of hazardous substances

HIT AND RUN MOTOR ACCIDENT : Accident that arises from the use of motor vehicle/s where the identity is not certainable irrespective of reasonable efforts for this purpose

HAGUE RULES : Following International Maritime Law Conference in Brussels in 1922, a set of rules that were agreed to establish the rights and immunities of the carriers related to the carriage of goods by sea; many countries agreeing to these rules have incorporated these under statutory acts like Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1924

HAIL RISK INSURANCE : Insurance cover available against hail storm damages to crops provided as part of the Crop Insurance Cover

HAND APPLIANCES : Any portable fire extinguisher device comprising chemicals to put out fires. Hand appliances are basic needs for risks that are considered for availing discount in the fire premium rating under the standard fire and special perils policy

HARD MARKET : Market situation where competitive pricing is at the minimum charged by the companies; the premiums for covering underwriting losses to avoid insolvency and boosting capacity often related to sharp declines in capacities

HAZARD : Condition/s that create or enhance the risks of losses due to any perils

HAZARDOUS GOODS : Goods (either solids, liquids, or gases) susceptible to the risk of fire in different degrees as per their physical properties; hazardous goods can be classified as I, II, III, and IV and are accordingly rated for the purposes of insurance within the standard fire and special perils policy

HAZARDOUS RISKS (FIDELITY GUARANTEE INSURANCE) : Risks not considered as good for insurance because high hazards associated therewith and higher instances of claims; eg jewellery sales person/s, cashiers in restaurants, cinemas and other entertainment facilities; treasurers of associations or societies; bullion merchant employees, art works in antiques or fur and valuables

HAZARDOUS SPORTS : Related to personal accident plans, sport activities that have higher risks like horseback or vehicle racing, mountaineering, skiing, big game hunting, river rafting, winter sports, balooning, ice hockey, hand gliding, etc. people engaged in such activities are categorized as high risk groups and need to pay higher premium when proposal is accepted by insurance companies

HEALTH INSURANCE BUSINESS OR HEALTH COVER : Contractual effecting providing sickness benefits or surgical, hospital expense benefits, whether in-patient, out-patient, on an indemnity, prepaid, reimbursement, hospital, or other plan basis also includes assured benefits and long-term care

HEATING AND SWEATING : Former is peril existing with respect to cargo prone to heating through spontaneous combustion (coal or oil cakes) in bulk quantities; sweating relates to water damages caused due to condensation of water in the ship or container hold in conditions of various weathers or atmospheres

HEATING OR DRYING PROCESS : Process undertaken in manufacturing where some property can be heated and dried to eliminate water content; any damage or loss to the same due to overheating or drying is not covered under the standard fire and special perils policy

HEAVY INDUSTRY : Traditional production companies in the steel, petroleum, automobile, rubber, and raw materials industries; needing higher capitalization and producing larger quantities of the output; heavy industries employ several people and beset with environmental impact

HEDGING : Importers or exporters strategy related to future sales or purchases; for overcoming loss resulting from increase or decrease in price because of currency fluctuation; protection is available by hedging against the exchange movement through forward contract

HOLD-UP : Robbery involving violence or threat of violence; risk that is covered under the standard burglary insurance plan

HOMOGENEOUS EXPOSURES : Risks within group under study that possess similar characteristics to larger extent in terms of exposure to similar loss making events and loss expectations; study of homogeneous exposure is undertaken for the purpose of fixing the premium rates and other terms and conditions related to insurance cover

HOMOGENOUS RISKS : Activities, properties, or interests that have exposure to similar perils and normally meet with similar loss making situations in case of these perils; insurance companies consider homogenous risks through evaluation as per cause and effect with the objective of quantifying the possibilities and severity to fix standard premium rates and cover terms and conditions

HONEY BEE INSURANCE : Coverage available for hives and/or bees colony belonging to cooperative societies against accidental damages or losses; claim settlement is according to agreed value representing cost of hive and bee colony cost that is attached to the policy as a valuation table

HOSPITAL CONFINEMENT INDEMNITY INSURANCE : Cover available for fixed compensation on daily basis during the treatment period in nursing home or hospital for any sickness, injury, or ailment against the regular mediclaim policy that provides reimbursement of the actual expenses incured for the treatment; any such product needs to be marketed in India after adopting the principle of "file and use" as per the regulatory authority

HOSPITALISATION : Admission of the patient in nursing home or hospital for treating injury, disease, illness, or sickness

HOSPITALISATION INSURANCE : Insurance cover for individuals offering reimbursement of the expenditure incured towards hospitalization due to injury, illness, disease, or sickness; cover can be extended for domiciliary hospitalization under specific conditions; individuals and dependants are covered under the plan

HOSTILE FIRE : Fire that is not confined to normal bounds and spreads beyond the habitat; example fire due to gas stove spreading to nearby items resulting in a larger fire; hostile fire is coverable under policies that extend to cover fire risks

HOT TESTING : Related to project insurance includes operational tests that involve parts checking, elements, and/or production lines of the insured property under partial or full load and normal stipulated operating conditions involving use of feedstock or other materials needed for normal processing and other media for load simulation; in electrical power stations hot testing implies checking after connection to grid or other load circuit of electrical generating, transforming, converting, or rectifying equipment. Commissioning tests or acceptance tests in turn implying operations of insured property under protection conditions for purposes of attaining quality and quantity specifications requirements

HOURS CLAUSE : Clause within XL reinsurance defining any one event of loss for the purposes of recovering losses from the XL cover; according to the clause any one event means 72 consecutive hours of single event like tidal waves, volcanic eruption, storms, seaquake, or earthquake; or 168 hours of flooding event; or manmade catastrophies like riots, civil commotion defined as 72 continuous hours for one event in a city; or 168 consecutive hours taken as single event for any other catastrophy

HOUSEBREAKING : Individuals commit house breaking when they trespass and their entries affect the property; commit any offence, or having committed offence s/he quits the house such exit and entry being made in 6 ways described in Penal Code

HOUSEHOLDERS COMPREHENSIVE INSURANCE : Insurance package designed for homeowners with broad range of liablility and property coverage relating to events at home and the outside

HULL INSURANCE : Insurance on the vessel, and its equipment and machinery

HURRICANE : Tropical storms marked by very low barometric pressure and circular winds at velocity exceeding 125 kilometers per hour and more

HURRICANE INSURANCE : Component of the perils named "storm, inundation, cyclone, flood, typhoon, tornado, hurricane, tempest", which is in-built within the cover under the standard fire and special perils plan; this group of perils can be opted out by the holders in order to reduce premium expense

HUT INSURANCE : Insurance cover for dwelling huts in rural locations constructed using finance assistance from banks or cooperatives or government institutions, cover available against fire, flood, earthquake, and inundation, malicious damage, storm, terrorism or riot, impact damage, etc.; insured value of Rs 6000 per hut

HUT INSURANCE SCHEME - FOR POOR FAMILIES IN RURAL AREAS : Special scheme provided by Indian government with the aim of providing relief to very poor families in rural areas when their belongings and huts are destroyed due to fire; very poor families imply rural inhabitants whose annual income from all sources is not more than Rs 4800; compensation per hut is Rs 1000 and for belongings it is Rs 500; administered by 4 national insurers with active participation from state government and union territories, effective since 1st May 1988

HYDRANT SYSTEM : Large discharge pipe system with valves at different locations for drawing water from the main; installation of the system along with existence of hand appliances will procure discount on the rate of premium under the standard fire and special perils policy

HEALTH INSURANCE : Protection from financial losses due to accidental bodily injury or illness; various heads included like accident, disability income, medical expense, and accidental demise and dismemberment insurance

HOSPITAL EXPENSE INSURANCE : Health insurance cover offering protection against hospital care cost resulting due to injury or illness of the insured individual; provides daily hospital room and board as well as hospital services during the stay

HOSPITAL INDEMNITY : Kind of health insurance providing stipulated daily, weekly, or monthly indemnity during hospital stay; indemnity is payable on unallocated basis without any regard to actual expense of the confinement

HELD COVERED : Provisional acceptance of risk subject to the confirmation at later date that the cover is needed; when applicable to existing insurance coverage it is conditional in actual practice on the prompt advice of the underwriter as soon as the insured is aware of the circumstance/s to be held covered being into effect and additional premium rate is paid if held risk covered comes into effect

HIRED AUTOMOBILE : Vehicles that the insured person hires, leases, borrows, or rents but excludes vehicles owned by employees or household members

HMO : Health Maintenance Organization providing health care for monthly pre determined payment; traditional HMO, doctors, and other care providers are salaried employees at facilities owned by organizations; during recent years other kinds of HMOs have sprung up where they contract with hospitals and doctors for providing care to member sets at negotiated charges; some HMOs are hybrid providing both kinds of care to members

HOLD-HARMLESS AGREEMENT : Contractual arrangement wherein one party assumes the liability inherent in specific situation; thus relieving the other party from such responsibility; typically found in lease contracts; lease contract typically may provide less must hold harmless the lessor from liabilities due to accidents occuring from the leased premises

HIGH-RISK AUTOMOBILE INSURER : Companies specializing in insuring motorists that have poor records or drivers who have been refused insurance or their coverage has been cancelled

HOME SERVICE LIFE INSURANCE : Industrial life insurance cover and monthly debit ordinary life contracts serviced by agents who call on policyholders at their homes for collecting the premiums

HOSPICE : Healthcare facility offering medical care and support like counseling services to patients who are terminally ill

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS PROGRAM : Arrangement for facilitating admission of persons covered under the health insurance to hospitals and for assuring prompt payments of applicable insurance benefits to the hospitals

HOSPITAL EXPENSE INSURANCE : Health insurance protection against the costs of the hospital care arising from treating the injury or illness of the insured person

HOSPITAL MEDICAL INSURANCE : Protection offering benefits for the cost of all or some of the several healthcare services covered under the health care plans

HOSPITAL MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES : Services excluding room, board, and general nursing services offered by hospitals during confinement; includes things like lab tests, x-ray, surgical dressings, medications, using operating room, and anesthetics (including its administration)

HUMAN LIFE VALUE : Present value of the family's share of the deceased earner's future earning potential