INSURANCE

Casualty insurance policies are written to cover loss that is the direct result of accident. It may include Auto liability insurance for car accidents, Marine insurance for shipwrecks or losses at sea, and etc. Life, health and property insurance are typically excluded from the definition. Loosely used to describe an area of insurance not particularly or directly concerned with life insurance, fire insurance or automobile insurance. Most frequently it refers to liability, crime and plate glass insurance but may include surety as well.

Casualty insurance covers losses and liabilities which are a result of unforeseen accidents. This category of insurance is quite broad, encompassing a range of situations and fields within the insurance industry. Generally, casualty insurance excludes life, health, and fire insurance policies; it is designed for things like burglary, terrorist attacks, and fraud. Many insurance agents offer casualty insurance; if you are interested in purchasing some for a home, specific situation, or business, you should talk to an insurance agent about your specific needs.

Typically, casualty insurance covers both damages to property and people. For example, if someone purchases a casualty insurance policy for a boat and someone is injured on board, the insurance company will bear that person's medical costs. Likewise, if part of the boat is damaged as a result of something like a burglary attempt, the insurance company will also cover this unforeseen event. This type of insurance is very useful for things like replacing broken plate glass or handling the aftermath of criminal acts.

Casualty insurance which includes personal liability can be very useful for business owners, as it ensures that the business will be able to take care of people who are injured on site. Homeowners can also take advantage of casualty insurance to help them replace items stolen during robberies, as can renters. A casualty insurance policy may also cover the people who visit a home, in the event of an accident.

When casualty insurance is purchased for something like a home or a business, it should be viewed as supplemental insurance. It will not cover things like fires and floods, which need to be separately insured. People should also read the terms of casualty insurance carefully, because certain things may not be covered, and this could become an issue when a claim is made. Specific casualty insurance plans can sometimes be purchased for events like earthquakes, depending on regional norms in the insurance industry.

One important type of casualty insurance is so-called "fidelity insurance" or surety bonds which are designed to protect people from the results of fraud. Fidelity insurance is also maintained by organizations like housekeeping businesses, to ensure that losses as a result of theft can be compensated. Specific casualty insurance can also be purchased to protect people from the results of Internet fraud and identity theft, two growing issues.

Longevity insurance, insuring longevity, is designed to pay to the policyholder a benefit if he or she survives to a pre-established future age.

While any lifelong life annuity is a longevity insurance in the loose sense, in the stricter sense it is a policy that only pays out from a rather high age, e.g. 85.

The benefit is generally paid in the form of an annuity for the remainder of the individuals life, though alternative benefit forms may be provided depending on the terms of the actual policy. Not many insurance companies offer these policies currently. The most notable are Metropolitan Life Insurance and Hartford Insurance Companies. The main use of these products is to provide retirees with a manner to hedge economically against living to an age at which they may have diminished financial resources.