Glossary of Insurance Terms

Printed with permission from the Insurance Institute of Canada.

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Tenant's Policy
A package policy specially designed to meet the normal insurance requirements of a private tenant covering personal belongings and liabilities.

Term
The period of time from the inception to the termination of an insurance policy or bond.

Theft
The wrongful taking of the property of another. It is a broad term and includes larceny, pilfering, hold-up, robbery and pick-pocketing.

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Third Party
A claimant under a liability policy, so called because he is not one of the two parties (insured and insurer) who has entered into the insurance contract which pays his claim.

Third Party Insurance
A fire policy insures the policyholder against loss or damage to his own property. When a policy insures a person against the liability he may incur to another for damages, it is "Third Party Insurance." The insured is indemnified with respect to any loss which he might suffer as a result of his legal liability to others arising out of the peril against which insurance is written.

Title
The right to ownership of property. The owner of real property having just possession of his property.

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Tort
A legal wrong arising from a duty fixed by law. Breach of this duty causing injury to persons or property is repressible by legal action for damages. Liability for tort involves private or civil wrong or injury and is distinct from that under contract in that the duty is owed to people, generally, rather than to a specified individual.

Total Loss
Loss of all the insured property. Also a loss involving the maximum amount for which a policy is liable.

Trespass
An illegal act against another person's rights or property.

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