| Noun | 1. | insurance - promise of reimbursement in the case of loss; paid to people or companies so concerned about hazards that they have made prepayments to an insurance company |
| 2. | insurance - written contract or certificate of insurance; "you should have read the small print on your policy" Synonyms: insurance policy, policy | |
| 3. | insurance - protection against future loss Synonyms: indemnity |
INSURANCE, contracts. It is defined to be a contract of indemnity from loss
or damage arising upon an uncertain event. 1 Marsh. Ins. 104. It is more
fully defined to be a contract by which one of the parties, called the
insurer, binds himself to the other, called the insured, to pay him a sum of
money, or otherwise indemnify him in case of the happening of a fortuitous
event, provided for in a general or special manner in the contract, in
consideration of a premium which the latter pays, or binds himself to pay
him. Pardess. part 3, t. 8, n. 588; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1174.
2. The instrument by which the contract is made is denominated a
policy; the events or causes to be insured against, risks or perils; and the
thing insured, the subject or insurable interest.
3. Marine insurance relates to property and risks at sea; insurance of
property on shore against fire, is called fire insurance; and the various
contracts in such cases, are fire policies. Insurance of the lives of
individuals are called insurances on lives. Vide Double Insurance; Re-
Insurance.
INSURANCE, MARINE, contracts. Marine insurance is a contract whereby one
party, for a stipulated premium, undertakes to indemnify the other against
certain perils or sea risks, to which his ship, freight, or cargo, or some
of them may be exposed, during a certain voyage, or a fixed period of time.
3 Kent, Com. 203; Boulay-Paty, Dr. Commercial, t. 10.
2. This contract is usually reduced to writing; the instrument is
called a policy of insurance. (q. v.)
3. All persons, whether natives, citizens, or aliens, may be insured,
with the exception of alien enemies.
4. The insurance may be of goods on a certain ship, or without naming
any, as upon goods on board any ship or ships. The subject insured must be
an insurable legal interest.
5. The contract requires the most perfect good faith; if the insured
make false representations to the insurer, in order to procure his insurance
upon better terms, it will avoid the contract, though the loss arose from a
cause unconnected with the misrepresentation, or the concealment happened
through mistake, neglect, or accident, without any fraudulent intention.
Vide Kent, Com. Lecture, 48; Marsh. Ins. c. 4; Pardessus, Dr. Com. part 4,
t. 5, n. 756, et seq.; Boulay-Paty, Dr. Com. t. 10.