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Automobile Insurance Definitions & Glossary: D – I

Declaration Page – is where you’ll find all of the details about your insurance company and policy; the address, policy holders name, start and end date, details of cover etc. Read it, you might learn something.

Deductible – this is important so pay attention. The deductible is the amount you agree to pay before the insurance company has to step in. If you have a deductible of, say, $500, then you will fork out the first $500 for any insured repair and the insurance company will cough up the rest. Having a higher deductible is a good way to get your premiums down a bit.

Defensive Driver Course / Discount – are classes which can enhance your motorist skills and therefore make you a lower insurance risk. In some cases, drivers are offered a discount if they complete one of these courses.

Depreciation – is the amount your property (car) depreciates in value over time. Generally this isn’t insured against, getting older and less valuable happens to us all . . .

Drive-in Claims Office- now forget about drive-in movies and drive-thro fast food joints, although the principle is pretty much the same. This is a location (probably an office) which means that you have one stop claims cover access.  

Driver Improvement Course – does pretty much what it says on the tin. This is a voluntary refresher course which us generally for drivers over the age of 55 who might feel the need to enhance driving skills.

Effective Date – is the day that the insurance cover starts.

Emergency Road Service Cover – covers lots of those annoying things which aren’t actually covered by your automobile insurance – running out of gas, locking your keys inside the car, car won’t start due to flat battery etc. etc. It happens to us all at one time or another, and you can get extra cover for it.

Endorsement – is an “add on” to the policy which changes it in some way.

Estimate – means the assessment of how much it’s gonna’ cost to fix your motor.

Exclusion – is a list of stuff which your car insurance policy DOESN’T cover.

Expiration Date – the date that your insurance policy ends, or expires. This is generally extremely specific, even stating the precise time that cover is finished, often 1 minute after midnight of a specific date. You’d better get home early, never mind turning into a pumpkin, you might run out of insurance cover.

Field Adjuster – is someone working “in the field”, not literally in a field, not a farmer or anything like that, but just not in the office. Anyway, they will often meet with the public personally for damage inspections, inspecting the scene of the crime (sorry, accident, I’m getting carried away now), negotiate with the claimants etc.

First Party – usually involves a cake with 1 candle on it, grinning parents and lots of balloons. The other type of first party means the person who is insured.

First Party Claims – are claims made by the first party. Some if this stuff is really simple isn’t it?

Fraud – if you bend the truth or tell some porky pies to get your insurance policy a bit cheaper, it will be classed as fraud and could make it invalid. Always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (there I go again).

Good Student Discount – some insurance companies will offer discounts on insurance premiums to students who maintain good grades, usually a “B” average or above.  This makes the student seem more responsible some how, and less likely to be involved in an accident. It might also mean that they are too busy studying to be out driving around anyway, good thinking on the insurance companies parts don’t you think?

Hazard – can be anything which is likely to increase the chances of an accident happening.

Hit & Run – these drivers are involved in accidents but don’t stop to give their details or see if they can help, they just try to scarper quick before they get into trouble.

Inception Date – (same as effective date), the date when your automobile insurance cover begins.

Independent Adjuster – can make an independent estimate as to how much it will cost to repair any damage to your vehicle. They work on behalf of the insurance company, but are not employed by the insurance company, they are independent.

Insurance Fraud – is a real problem, that’s part of the reason why car insurance premiums rise so steeply.  Unfortunately, some scrupulous fraudsters exaggerate the facts of any accident to try and claim more money from the insurance company which they are not really entitled to. Insurance fraud is a problem with staged accidents, inflated medical bills and exaggerated injuries etc.