Insuring Agreements (Inclusions) – Second Part of DICEE
Our back-to-basics articles continue with looking at the second part of any insurance policy referred to as Insuring Agreements. I decided to continue with another back-to-basics article after the popularity of last week’s article – Is An Insurance Policy A Contract?
Workers Compensation policies are no different. When I was in insurance training classes for a major unnamed carrier in the 1980s, one of the most important subjects was rapid policy comprehension.
According to the insurance carrier policy training instructor, any policy has the same parts (almost). Being able to understand a policy was the first step to adjusting the assigned claim. Before the insurance line adjusting specialization began in the 1990s, claims adjusters were trained in all lines of coverage.
I remember adjuster trainees disappearing quickly from the training class due to tests covering policy comprehension. DICEE became a very rapid way to understand if coverage was applicable for a certain claim.
The “I” in DICEE was at one time called Inclusions – now Insuring Agreements seems to be the dominant term.
DICEE and Insuring Agreements
The parts of an insurance policy are:
- Declarations
- Insuring Agreements
- Conditions
- Exclusions
- Endorsements
My quick definition is the heart of an insurance policy. According to the SC Department of Insurance.
This is a summary of the major promises of the insurance company and states what is covered. In the Insuring Agreement, the insurer agrees to do certain things such as paying losses for covered perils, providing certain services, or agreeing to defend the insured in a liability lawsuit.
Live Policy Examples
A policyholder sent me their Workers’ Compensation policy as part of our premium audit reviews. Instead of adding five pages of policy info, below is where the Insuring Agreements begin in a standard Workers Comp policy and end.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Whether it is Insuring Agreements or Endorsements, please always read your policies before signing off on the policy will result in avoiding later headaches.
