Railroad Protective Liability - Liability coverage designed to protect a railroad from liability claims arising out of the operations of others on or adjacent to railroad property.
Rain Insurance - A weather coverage that indemnifies a promoter or organizer against loss of income because of the cancellation of an outdoor event due to rainfall that exceeds a specified amount during a specified time period.
Rate Filing - Documentation filed by an insurer with the state requesting a change in the existing rates.
Rating Bureau - (See NCCI) Some states maintain their own separate rating bureau, although these often follow NCCI rules and use NCCI manuals. Currently, the states of California, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming operate their own non-NCCI rating bureaus. Many of these largely follow NCCI rules for computing premiums and classifications, but California, Delaware, Texas, and Pennsylvania are notably different from NCCI in some aspects of classification and premium computation.
Real Property - Land, buildings, and other structures (such as a swimming pool or tool shed).
Real Property – Land and everything that is permanently affixed to it.
Rebate - In insurance, a portion of an agent’s commission returned to a customer as an inducement to place the insurance through the agent. This practice is illegal in all but two states as against public policy. Reciprocal exchange - A type of insurance managed by an attorney-in-fact in which members pay premiums, and share in losses equally. Membership is required for insurance.
Receiver – A receiver is an attorney to whom an account is referred for collection by a forwarder, and who is thereby employed, as attorney for the creditor, to collect the same. Upon acceptance of the claim for collection, the full attorney-client relationship exists between the receiver and the creditor.
Reclamation – A term used in bankruptcy to denote a right or proceeding on the part of a person having title to property to recover the same when it is in possession of the bankrupt, debtor, receiver or trustee.
Redlining - Unfair discrimination based not on the risk’s characteristics but on its location. The term is commonly associated with an insurer’s refusal to consider insuring any home or business within a specific area marked by a line drawn on a map.
Reinsurance - The business of insuring insurance companies. By "ceding" a portion of its business to a reinsurance company, an insurer spreads the risk of exposure to catastrophic loss.
Reinsurer/ see Reinsurance.
Remittance – When a debtor makes a payment to the attorney, the attorney puts the money into his account to clear. After it has cleared, the attorney makes a remittance to the forwarder, which is less his commissions.
Removal - "Removal" was a provision of the New York Standard Fire Policy in which the insurer agreed to cover the cost of removing covered property from the path of a fire. Presently, property policies express the agreement in terms of "preservation of property" from imminent danger of damage from any covered peril. Not to be confused with Debris removal.
Remuneration – The basis for calculating Workers' Compensation premium. Remuneration is primarily payroll, but may also include other forms of employee compensation. Workers' Compensation premium is computed by applying varying rates (for different classifications - per hundred dollars of remuneration).
Renewal - The extension of the term of coverage of an expired policy, commonly by replacement with another policy effective on the date of expiration of the previous policy.
Rent-a-captive - A specialized form of captve insurance company operation designed for businesses that do not want to own a captive but want to obtain some of the advantages offered by captives. A rent-a-captive is formed by a group of investors and operated as an income-producing business. Insureds who wish to participate "rent" space in the captive instead of setting up and capitalizing their own captive insurance company.
Rent Insurance - A form of business interruption insurance for a landlord. It protects building owners against loss of income when the building cannot be rented because of damage from any of the insured perils. It provides income while an insured’s building is untenantable.
Rental Value Insurance - Refers to protection of either a landlord’s rental income or an owner occupant’s economic stake in use of the subject structure. Either interested party can obtain coverage by way of an Insurance Services Office business income form.
Renters Insurance - Term for insurance for the non-owner occupant of a dwelling or apartment.
Reorganization (Under the Bankruptcy Act) – Debtor reorganizes, rather than liquidates, and creditors claim future earnings of the bankrupt, rather than property presently held.
Replacement Cost/ see Actual Cash Value.
Replacement Cost Appraisal - An appraisal that determines the amount required to replace an existing structure and related personal property.
Replacement Cost Insurance - Covers property — both building and contents — on the basis of full replacement cost without deduction for depreciation on any loss sustained, subject to the terms of the co-insurance clause.
Replevin – An action to recover the possession of personal property taken or withheld from the owner unlawfully.
Reporting Form - A device for insuring values subject to extensive fluctuation that keeps the premium in line with the actual exposure. A maximum limit is set at policy inception and the insured is charged a "deposit premium." Actual values are then reported, usually on a monthly basis, and earned premium is figured on the basis of those reports and laid off against the deposit premium.
Reservation of Rights - An arrangement in which an insurer agrees to proceed with the defense of a case without commitment to provide coverage, in the event that the facts disclosed during the trial reveal that the occurrence is not covered.
Reserves or Reserved Losses - The value of losses that have been estimated and set up for future payment.
Resident Agent - A licensed agent who resides in and is licensed in the state in which business is being written.
Residual Markets - Insurance markets established outside the normal insurance marketing channels to cover unusually large or poor risks. Such markets include assigned risk plans, aircraft pools, nuclear pools, and certain government insurance programs.
Respondeat Superior - A legal term referring to the fact that, under specific circumstances, an employer (or principal) is legally liable for the actions of his or her employees while in the course of their employment.
Retainer – A retainer is a sum of money paid in advance to retain the services of an attorney, and should be taken into account to determine the ultimate fee to be charged for services rendered and results obtained.
Retention - Usually used in reinsurance, this is the amount of liability retained by an insurer, and not ceded to a reinsurer.
Retention Plan – Similar to Retrospective rating, this is a Workers' Compensation policy format that adjusts the premium, up or down, based on losses (and associated costs) that occur during the policy period.
Retroactive Date - The date that defines the extent of coverage in time under claims-made liability policies. Claims resulting from occurrences prior to the policy’s stated retroactive date are excluded.
Retrocessionnaire - A reinsurer that contractually accepts a portion of the cedant’s reinsurance risk. The transfer is called a retrocession. Retrospective rating - A rating arrangement in which the final premium for insurance coverage is not determined until all claims are closed. The final premium is determined by the insured’s actual loss experience during the policy period.
Retrospective Rating – A Workers' Compensation insurance policy that makes a subsequent adjustment to premium, after policy expiration, based on losses generated during the policy period. The adjustment can go up or down, within set parameters, based on the losses generated during the policy period.
Rider - Another term for an endorsement attached to a policy that modifies the coverage.
Riot - One of the extended coverage perils, related to, but broader than, civil commotion.
Risk - Risk is uncertainty concerning loss. Sometimes also used to refer to a piece of business or a submission to an insurer.
Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) - Trade association of risk managers and insurance buyers.
Risk Management - The process of handling pure risk by way of reduction, elimination, or transfer of risk, with the latter commonly achieved through insurance.
Risk Manager - The individual in an organization responsible for evaluation of the organization’s exposures, and controlling these exposures through such means as avoidance or transference, as to an insurance company.
Risk Retention Group - An insurance company chartered under the laws of a state or other U.S. jurisdiction, composed of members whose business activities are similar, and controlled by its members.
Rolling Store - A vehicle out of which goods are sold. An example would be a mobile snack bar at a construction site. Insurance policies may contain wording that may restrict or define available coverage for this type of operation.
