Acute condition

Definition

A disease, illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to treatment which aims to return you to the state of health you were in immediately before suffering the disease, illness or injury or which leads to your full recovery.

This is a defined term that's agreed by the Association of British Insurers, and commonly used by insurers that provide private medical insurance.

Explanation

Used when talking about types of medical condition.

Acute has a specific meaning in medical insurance. This reflects the way the term is used in medicine rather than the way it's used in general use where acute tends simply to mean an illness that's 'currently very bad'.

A medical condition that's acute can become chronic.

All Risks

Definition

Wider cover than given under a standard property insurance policy.

Explanation

Used when talking about types of insurance cover.

Standard property insurance is based on defined causes of damage.
All risk covers any loss or damage apart from exclusions as stated in the policy.

Annual Premium

Definition

The premium due for one year's cover.

Explanation

Used when talking about insurance premiums.

Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII)

Definition

A professional insurance qualification awarded by the Chartered Insurance Institute.

An Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute has successfully completed the Advanced Diploma in Insurance, previously known as the Associateship.

Explanation

Used when talking about professional qualifications in the insurance industry.

Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute is a widely recognised qualification in the UK insurance industry.

The Advanced Diploma in Insurance is the second highest of four available levels of qualifications offered by the Institute. It was previously called the Associateship.

Benefit allowance

Definition

The maximum limit that could be paid for all eligible claims for a particular type of benefit in a policy year.

Explanation

Used when talking about insurance policy benefits.

A benefit could be a payment or a service. The benefit allowance (this is also referred to as 'limit') for each benefit sets the limit for the particular type of benefit in a specified period.

For example, Jason has a medical insurance policy that provides psychiatric treatment as a benefit. The benefit has a benefit limit of £500 per policy year. This means that the most Jason could claim for psychiatric treatment in a policy year would be £500.

Benefit limits can have different amounts, and they can run over different periods.