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Insurance Terms
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Bond Terms Administrator - A fiduciary appointed by the
probate court, in the absence of a will, to manage or distribute the assets of
an estate and pay all just claims and debts. American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - This law prohibits employment discrimination against persons with disabilities. In addition, once an employee or prospective employee claims such a disability, the employer has the duty to responsibly accommodate that person in the job for which he or she is qualified. As reasonable accommodation is not defined in the statute or by administrative regulations, it is left to a case-by-case determination. The complainant must first file a charge with the EEOC. Benefit as Damages - Some insurance companies exclude from the definition of loss or damages those benefits which an employee may have received in the absence of a wrongful termination. This type of exclusion is quite distinct from the exclusion of claims based on allegations of ERISA violations. It excludes from the payment of compensatory damages what is sometimes a rather large element of that form of damages. Insureds should consider the impact of this limitation on such an important element of damages. Breach of Contract - Some wrongful termination claims are predicated on breach of contract or breach of an implied contract of continuous employment. An employment manual which does not adequately disclaim its status as a contract is frequently found to embody the terms and conditions of an employment relationship, the breach of which can result in the assessment of damages. Class Actions - A suit on behalf of a group of plaintiffs, as defined by either sex, race, religion or time of employment. Combination Safe Depository - covers losses to a customer's property due to loss or damage from actual or attempted burglary or robbery. Commercial Auto - protects organizations against potential liability arising from vehicles that are owned, rented or leased. Commercial Catastrophe Liability - provides coverage to help lessen the impact of catastrophes. Commercial Crime Policy - (also referred to as fidelity bonds or dishonesty insurance) helps compensate an employer for loss of money or other property caused by the dishonest act of its bonded employees. Commercial Crime Select Policy - helps compensate larger organizations for losses of money or other property caused by the dishonest acts of its bonded employees. Computer Crime Policy - provides coverage for losses resulting directly from a fraudulent entry or change of electronic data or computer program within an institution's systems. Deceit, Misrepresentation or Fraud - A discharged employee accuses the employer of having made false promises regarding terms and conditions of his or her employment. Defamation - The release of inaccurate, misleading or occasionally even truthful information about an employee or former employee may lead to a suit for defamation. Investigation of sexual harassment charges can lead to a claim of defamation, especially if an employee is terminated but maintains his innocence nonetheless. Employers rarely lose these suits but they can be expensive to defend. Directors and Officers Liability Policy - protects the personal assets of directors and officers against losses stemming from claims made by third parties alleging wrongful acts in the performance of their duties. Dividend Programs - both the All Lines Property and Casualty and Workers Compensation Dividend Programs could reward clients for actively managing their exposures and exercising proactive safety practices. Downsizing - Several policies exclude coverage if the insured suddenly downsizes. All of these exclusions are very broad and can be quite problematic. Since they all involve some kind of arbitrary threshold, they are bound to produce bitter litigation with policyholders. Electronic Data Processing - provides coverage for the loss of important data processing equipment and media. The coverage is an integral part of the Financial Institution Policy. Employment Practices Liability - covers losses emanating from behavior proscribed by federal and state law with regard to employment practices including wrongful termination, sexual harassment and discrimination. ERISA ( Employee Retirement Security Act) Bonds - protects employee benefit plans from dishhonest and fraudulent acts committed by the individuals who are associated with them. E-Risk Protection Program - helps organizations assess all forms of electronic business risk and provides the comprehensive coverage needed to ensure protection including: first and third party loss of service; electronic publishing; public relations; and, loss of intellectual property. Excess FDIC - provides coverage for organization's customers with deposits exceeding $100,000 to protect excess funds. (The FDIC provides protection up to $100,000.) Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Administered by the U.S. Labor Department, sets the pay schemes that discriminate based on sex. False Imprisonment - This tort, in the employment context, will almost always result from investigations of an employee caught in the act of stealing or some other major transgression where the employer detains the employee for a time and will not permit him or her to leave or go elsewhere. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - Employers who employ more than 50 employees are now required by federal law to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees who need to care for a newborn or newly-adopted child, or who need to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition, or because of the employee's need to care for his or her own serious health condition. Such employees must be re-employed upon return from the leave. The U.S. Labor Department regulations are exceedingly complex. Fiduciary Responsibility - protects fiduciaries against personal financial loss resulting from lawsuits claiming negligence in administering employee pension and welfare plans. Financial Institution Bond - provides coverage for losses stemming from employee dishonesty; burglary and theft; forgery and alteration; and counterfeit currency. Financial Institution Policy - provides property and casualty coverage tailored to address the special needs of commercial banks, savings banks, and savings and loans. Financial Organizations Protection Policy (for non-depository institutions) - provides property and casualty coverage tailored to address the special needs of financial services organizations. Financial Services Policy - provides property and casualty coverage tailored to address the special needs of credit unions. Intentional Acts Exclusion - Even in the absence of an exclusion for intentional acts, insurers, as a matter of public policy, are not required to indemnify insureds for intentional violations of the law, since it is against public policy to subsidize such violations. It is not against public policy, however, for insurers to indemnify insureds for the damages assessed against them vicariously for violations committed by their employees. Intentional Act exclusions that do not differentiate accordingly are problematic. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - This tort is alleged rather frequently, but plaintiffs rarely make a good case of it in the employment context. It requires genuinely egregious conduct that is outside the bounds of socially tolerable conduct. However, a plaintiff will sometimes prevail on this theory when it is joined to a Title VII harassment case, such as when an employer uses racial epithets or the sexual harassment is particularly pervasive or mean-spirited. Interference with Contractual Relationships - Employers who release derogatory information about a former employee that prevents that employee from gaining employment elsewhere may not have defamed the employee, because the information may have been truthful, but may have committed this tort if the disclosure was unfair or motivated by bad intentions. Invasion of Privacy/Public Disclosure of Private Acts - These cases are similar to defamation cases, but are limited to truthful, but embarrassing disclosures of private facts about employees. The usual complaint here is that the disclosure was unnecessary and prompted by evil motives. IRA-Keogh Errors and Omissions - covers losses based on claims alleging negligence, error, or omission by a trustee in the administration of an IRA-Keogh plan. Kidnap and Ransom - provides protection against losses resulting from a kidnapping or extortion event. Labor Arbitrations - Many policies exclude coverage for arbitration of labor disputes even if they involve discrimination claims. Lenders Property Reporting Policy - protects the lender's financial interest in mortgaged properties and investment properties at the time of a loss. The policy provides force placed property by protecting the lender's interest in mortgaged properties when the mortgagor's insurance coverage has lapsed. It also covers real estate owned properties. Limited Discrimination Coverage - Some of the policy forms are limited to specific descriptions of discrimination in order to cover only specific legislation. Some state laws will prohibit discrimination against certain protected classes as defined under state law. If a policy form is drafted too narrowly and only covers protected classes as defined under federal law, there will be a gap in coverage with respect to the exposure presented by the state code. Mortgage Lending Solutions - innovative solutions designed to protect an institution from mortgage lending wrongful acts that result in a loss to the financial institution's mortgage holder's interest in collateral property. Mortgagee Protection Policy - provides protection against mortgage impairment and certain legal liability losses that arise out of mortgage operations. The policy covers the institution when losses stem from uninsured physical damage to mortgaged properties or from the institution's obligation to maintain insurance or to make payment from escrow on behalf of the mortgagor. Non-Monetary Relief - A suit that seeks only equitable relief, such as reinstatement. Where both monetary and non-monetary relief are sought, which is usually the case, it is not clear how the defense costs would be allocated between the two types of claims. Professional Services Liability - provides entity coverage for financial institutions against claims related to any professional services provided by the institution, by written agreement, and for a fee. Punitive Damages - All of the claims described herein permit the plaintiff to recover economic losses, which include back pay and front pay for diminished earnings. All of the federal and state civil rights laws regarding employment permit wrongfully terminated employees to seek reinstatement. The ADEA permits plaintiffs to recover what the statute calls "liquidated damages" for willful violations. This is also true of the FLSA. These damages are capped at twice the economic damages proven. Retaliatory Discharge - All of the federal civil rights laws prohibit terminating an employee who has alleged violations by the employer of the various civil rights acts and labor laws. Numerous other federal statutes also either preclude or limit termination of an employee for reasons defined either by the statute or by court decisions. Additionally, statutes or court decisions of the various states often provide a course of action to an employee who has been terminated for asserting an important state right, such as making a workers' compensation claim. On basis of public policy, some states prohibit the termination of employment of an employee who has reported to authorities the employer's violation of state or federal law. Trust Department E&O - provides protection from claims made against the organization for losses resulting from a trust department wrongful act while performing one or more trust functions as a trustee or agent under written agreement. Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERA) - This new law requires employees to rehire, except for a good cause shown, those who, after having worked for an employer for a certain period of time, enter the military, are discharged and seek to get their old jobs back. It also prohibits discrimination against veterans generally. Whistleblower Statutes - There are a number of federal laws that prohibit retaliation against employees who report fraud and abuse to the government. Workers Adjustment and Retaining Notification Act (WARN) - WARN requires employers with 100 or more full-time employees to provide written notice to employees or their union representatives and a designated state agency at least 60 days prior to a plant closing or mass layoff. An employer who violates this law must pay damages to each aggrieved employee calculated as a back pay for each day of violation at the employee's regular rate of pay and benefits subject to a 60-day maximum. Workers Compensation - pays statutory benefits as a result of work-related injuries or diseases as prescribed by law and also protects employers for other types of employment related incidents. Workers Compensation Dividend Plans - reward eligible organizations for actively managing exposures and exercising proactive loss prevention and safety practices as related to workers compensation. Write-Your-Own-Flood - is a cooperative undertaking between the insurance industry and the Federal Insurance Administration. The program allows approved property and casualty insurance companies to write and service the Standard Flood Insurance Policy.
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CONTACT US:Toll Free 866.872.4512 FAX 847.872.0678 Email [email protected] Pitcher Insurance Brokerage, Inc. 2200 SHERIDAN ROAD ZION, IL 60099 |
