Reference Concept → chapter Working topical guide

Topic Index, where to find what.

Concepts grouped by theme, mapped to where they get the deeper treatment in the chapters. Use this when you remember the topic but not which chapter covered it. Some topics appear in multiple chapters because the material is genuinely cross-cutting.

Coverage Triggers and Forms Limits, Layers, and Retention Casualty Concepts Exclusions and Carve-outs Property Concepts Marine and Cargo Professional and Management Liability Specialty and Niche Lines Workers Compensation Commercial Auto Market Structure Reinsurance Mechanics Underwriting and Workflow Rating and Pricing Claims Regulation and Compliance

Each topic links to one or more chapter references. Topics with multiple references appear in those chapters from different angles. The clusters group thematically, not alphabetically; for an A-Z view, see the Glossary.

Cluster

Coverage Triggers and Forms

How coverage is activated and the forms that govern it.

Occurrence trigger
Claims-made trigger
Discovery trigger
CG 00 01 form
ISO commercial property forms (CP series)
Manuscript wording
Following form excess
Tail coverage / extended reporting period
Retroactive date
Prior acts coverage
Claims-made-and-reported
Notice of circumstances
Continuous trigger / triple trigger
Pro rata vs all sums allocation
Cluster

Limits, Layers, and Retention

How insurance programs structure capacity, attachment, and self-insurance.

Per-occurrence limit
Aggregate limit
Self-insured retention (SIR)
Deductible vs SIR
Excess attachment point
Umbrella vs excess
Quota share split limit
Towers and layered programs
Reinstatement provisions
Cluster

Casualty Concepts

Liability-side concepts that recur across CGL, excess, auto, and professional lines.

Bodily injury
Property damage
Personal and advertising injury
Duty to defend
Defense within limits vs outside limits
Hammer clause
Punitive damages coverage
Subrogation
Nuclear verdicts
Social inflation
Reptile theory
Cluster

Exclusions and Carve-outs

The endorsements and form provisions that define what is not covered.

Pollution exclusion
Total pollution exclusion (CG 21 86)
Employment-related practices exclusion (CG 21 47)
ERISA exclusion in fiduciary
Insured vs insured exclusion
Crime employee dishonesty exclusion in CGL
Watercraft exclusion
Aircraft exclusion
Auto exclusion in CGL
Cyber exclusion in property
Professional services exclusion in CGL
Cluster

Property Concepts

Concepts that drive property pricing, placement, and claim behavior.

COPE framework
Construction class (ISO 1-6)
ISO Public Protection Class (PPC)
Total Insured Value (TIV)
Schedule of Values (SOV)
Replacement cost vs actual cash value
Coinsurance
Business interruption
Extra expense
Ordinance or law coverage
Catastrophe perils
Builders risk
Soft costs
Delay in start-up (DSU)
Cluster

Marine and Cargo

Ocean and inland marine, plus the property in transit between them.

Hull insurance
Cargo insurance
P&I (Protection and Indemnity)
Institute Cargo Clauses (A/B/C)
General average
Inland marine nationwide definition
Motor truck cargo
Bailee coverage
Builders risk for marine
Cluster

Professional and Management Liability

The claims-made stack: D&O, E&O, EPL, fiduciary, professional indemnity.

D&O Side A coverage
D&O Side B coverage
D&O Side C coverage
Securities class actions
Derivative suits
Failure to maintain insurance exclusion
Lawyers professional liability
Architects and engineers (A&E) E&O
Tech E&O
Misclassification claims
Wage and hour exclusions in EPL
Cluster

Specialty and Niche Lines

Lines that show up periodically and need their own playbook.

Cyber first-party coverage
Cyber third-party coverage
Cyber business interruption
Ransomware payments and OFAC
Crime computer fraud coverage
Crime social engineering coverage
Funds transfer fraud
Environmental site pollution liability (PLL)
Contractors pollution liability (CPL)
Surety bid, performance, payment bonds
Surety license and permit bonds
Kidnap and ransom (K&R) coverage
Trade credit coverage
Political risk insurance (PRI)
MIGA backed political risk
Cluster

Workers Compensation

Statutory workers compensation concepts.

Class codes (NCCI)
Experience modification (e-mod)
Indemnity vs medical
Permanent partial disability
Permanent total disability
Loss-time vs medical-only claims
Return-to-work programs
Employer liability (Coverage B)
Stop-gap coverage in monopolistic states
Cluster

Commercial Auto

Auto-specific concepts for fleets and trucking.

Auto liability vs auto physical damage
Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA)
MCS-90 endorsement
Trucking radius of operations
Trucking commodities hauled
Driver MVR review
Telematics
Drive Other Car (DOC)
Cluster

Market Structure

How the commercial insurance market is organized.

Admitted vs non-admitted
Surplus lines / E&S
Diligent search requirement
Stamping office
Lloyd's syndicates
Lloyd's box system
Market Reform Contract (MRC)
MGA / MGU binding authority
Coverholder (Lloyd's)
Captive insurance
Risk Retention Group (RRG)
Protected Cell Company (PCC)
Wholesale broker
Retail broker
Reinsurance broker
Cluster

Reinsurance Mechanics

Treaty and facultative reinsurance concepts.

Quota share treaty
Surplus share treaty
Per-risk excess of loss
Catastrophe excess of loss
Aggregate stop-loss
Facultative reinsurance
Retrocession
Ceding commission
Reinstatement premium
AAL, OEP, AEP
Rate-on-line
Bordereaux reporting
1/1 renewal cycle
Cluster

Underwriting and Workflow

How underwriters select, evaluate, and price risk.

Submission triage
Clearance
Appetite filtering
Subjectivities
Quote, indication, firm order
Binder issuance
Loss run analysis
Loss development
Reserve adequacy
Premium audit
Renewal cycle
Cluster

Rating and Pricing

The mechanics of premium calculation.

Manual rate
Loss Cost Multiplier (LCM)
Experience modification
Schedule modification / IRPM
Credibility theory
Rate filing (prior approval, file-and-use)
SERFF filing platform
Bureau loss costs (ISO, NCCI)
Tier rating
Cluster

Claims

Claims handling concepts and operational mechanics.

First Notice of Loss (FNOL)
Coverage analysis
Reservation of rights (ROR)
Adjuster (staff vs independent)
ALAE vs ULAE
IBNR reserves
Subrogation
Salvage
Anti-subrogation rule
Waiver of subrogation
Made whole doctrine
Business interruption / time element
Period of restoration
Civil authority / ingress-egress
Contingent business interruption
Bad faith exposure
Reopen vs closed
Litigation management
Cluster

Regulation and Compliance

The state-based regulatory framework and federal touchpoints.

McCarran-Ferguson Act
State insurance department
NAIC and model laws
Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP)
Risk-Based Capital (RBC)
Annual statement
ORSA
Market conduct examination
Unfair claims practices
ERISA preemption
TRIA terrorism backstop
Certified vs non-certified terrorism
Stand-alone terrorism market
NBCR exclusion
The insurance cycle / hard & soft markets
Combined ratio dynamics
ILS / alternative capital
OFAC compliance
Federal Insurance Office (FIO)
NRRA