40 terms
- Actual cash value (ACV)
- Replacement cost minus depreciation. Many policies pay ACV first and the rest after repairs.
- Additional living expense (ALE)
- Coverage for extra costs of living elsewhere while your home is uninhabitable after a covered loss.
- Amount of loss
- The dollar value of a covered loss. It’s what appraisal decides.
- Appraisal award
- The written decision signed by two of the three panel members that sets the amount of loss.
- Appraisal provision
- The policy condition that lets either side demand appraisal when they disagree on the amount of loss.
- Appraiser
- A competent, disinterested person named by each side to value the loss.
- Causation
- What caused the damage, such as wind versus flood. Usually a coverage question, not an appraisal question.
- Coinsurance
- A commercial policy condition that can reduce payment if the property is insured below a required percentage of its value.
- Coverage A
- Dwelling coverage: the limit for the house itself on a homeowner policy.
- Coverage B
- Other structures coverage: detached garages, sheds, fences and similar.
- Declarations page
- The summary page of your policy listing coverages, limits and deductibles.
- Depreciation
- A reduction in value for age and condition, used to calculate actual cash value.
- Disinterested
- Without a personal stake in the outcome. Policies require appraisers to be disinterested.
- Dwelling form
- A policy form often used for rental properties, which can differ from a standard homeowner form.
- Endorsement
- A form attached to the policy that adds, removes or changes coverage.
- FAIR Plan
- A state-established insurer of last resort. Rhode Island’s FAIR Plan covers properties that can’t get coverage elsewhere.
- Flood exclusion
- The homeowner policy provision excluding damage from flood and surface water, including storm surge.
- Hurricane deductible
- A deductible, usually a percentage of Coverage A, that applies when a storm meets the policy’s hurricane trigger.
- Ice dam
- A ridge of ice at the eaves that traps meltwater, which can back up under shingles and leak inside.
- Line item
- A single entry on an estimate with a description, quantity, unit and price.
- Loss of rents
- Coverage for rental income lost while a rented unit can’t be lived in after a covered loss.
- Matching
- Whether replacement materials can reasonably match the undamaged remainder of siding, roofing or flooring.
- Mitigation
- Reasonable steps to prevent further damage after a loss, such as tarping or drying.
- Named storm
- A tropical storm or hurricane named by the National Hurricane Center, a common hurricane-deductible trigger.
- NFIP
- The National Flood Insurance Program, which writes most residential flood policies in the U.S.
- Nor’easter
- A coastal storm with strong northeast winds, common in Rhode Island from fall through spring.
- Ordinance or law coverage
- Coverage for added costs of meeting current building codes during repairs.
- Overhead and profit (O&P)
- A general contractor’s charges for managing a job with several trades, often 10% and 10%.
- Proof of loss
- A sworn statement of the amount claimed, often due within a set time after the insurer requests it.
- Recoverable depreciation
- Held-back depreciation the policy pays once repairs or replacement are completed.
- Replacement cost value (RCV)
- The cost to repair or replace with materials of like kind and quality, without deducting depreciation.
- Scope
- The full list of repairs needed, before pricing.
- Square
- A roofing measurement equal to 100 square feet of roof surface.
- Steep charge
- An estimate line adding labor for working on steep roofs.
- Storm surge
- Seawater pushed ashore by a storm. Treated as flood under homeowner policies.
- Suit limitation
- The policy condition limiting how long you have to sue the insurer, often counted from the date of loss.
- Supplement
- A request to add missing or underpriced items to a claim after the first estimate.
- Umpire
- The neutral third member of an appraisal panel who decides items the appraisers can’t agree on.
- Wind-driven rain
- Rain forced through openings by wind. Coverage depends on whether wind first created an opening.
- Xactimate
- Estimating software widely used by insurers and contractors to price property repairs.