GENERAL INSURANCE
Insurance that protects against damage to property, failures in financial arrangements, injury or liability to third parties. See also: LIFE ASSURANCE, SHORT-TERM BUSINESS.

GROUP BENEFITS
Benefits that are provided for a group of people, usually employees (eg group death in service benefits). Each individual in the group is entitled to receive the benefit.

GUARANTEED ANNUITY
An ANNUITY under which payments are guaranteed to continue for at least a given period.
Retirement pensions commonly incorporate a 5 year guarantee period to ensure that a reasonable
amount of benefit is paid out in all circumstances.

GENERAL INSURANCE
Insurance that protects against damage to property, failures in financial arrangements, injury or liability to third parties. See also: LIFE ASSURANCE, SHORT-TERM BUSINESS.

GROUP BENEFITS
Benefits that are provided for a group of people, usually employees (eg group death in service benefits). Each individual in the group is entitled to receive the benefit.

GUARANTEED ANNUITY
An ANNUITY under which payments are guaranteed to continue for at least a given period.
Retirement pensions commonly incorporate a 5 year guarantee period to ensure that a reasonable
amount of benefit is paid out in all circumstances.

HOUSEHOLD INSURANCE
Insurance cover for householders that provides protection against damage to buildings (eg fire, storm damage, subsidence) or to household contents (eg burglary, flood damage).

IMMEDIATE ANNUITY
An ANNUITY where the payments start in the year the policy is effected, as opposed to a DEFERRED
ANNUITY.

INCEPTION
Another word for "commencement", often used in connection with sickness benefits.

INCOME TAX
Tax payable on the income received from employment, investments or rent.

INCREASING BENEFIT
A benefit that increases in amount as time progresses. Increases may be simple, compound or specified by a more complicated formula.

INDEMNITY
The principle underlying general insurance where benefits are not set at a predetermined level, but are designed to restore policyholders to the position they were in before an insured loss was sustained.

INDEXATION
Where benefits or payments are increased in line with a specified index (eg RPI).

INFLATION
Increases in the general level of costs. When unqualified, "inflation" usually refers to general price inflation. However, there are many other forms of inflation eg salary inflation, claims cost inflation, house price inflation.

I N FORCE BUSINESS
The portfolio of policies currently active at a given date.

INITIAL EXPENSES
The expenses incurred by an insurer in obtaining and setting up a new policy. See also:
COMMISSION, RENEWAL EXPENSES.

INSTALMENT PREMIUM
Instalment premiums are non-annual premiums which remain payable until the end of the year of death of the policyholder. In practice, the amount of any outstanding premiums is deducted from the benefit payment. See also: TRUE MONTHLY PREMIUMS.

INSURED
A policyholder who is covered by some form of insurance protection. Plural: "insureds".

I NSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR
A financial organisation such as an insurance company, pension fund, bank or large company that has funds to invest.

INSURABLE INTEREST
A requirement of an insurance contract that the insured must have an interest in the insured event. This prevents insurance from being used for gambling. In particular, it prevents people from insuring other people's lives and then "facilitating" their premature death.

INTEREST
The reward for investing funds. Effectively, the reward for saving rather than spending and consuming now.

INVESTMENT MANAGER
An individual or a company (eg a merchant bank) given responsibility for investing funds.

INVESTMENT VEHICLE
A medium for investing funds eg a personal pension plan.

IRREDEEMABLE
A stock is irredeemable if the initial capital will never be repaid (by the issuer) to the investor.
A number of optionally redeemable gilt stocks with a low coupon rate are effectively
irredeemable because it would be more costly to the Treasury to repay them than to carry on
paying the coupons.