Glossary

This glossary is intended as a general aid to help you understand some of the commonly occurring phrases and jargon used in the insurance world.  If you have any questions about the use or meaning of a term or expression in any particular product or literature, you should raise them with the provider concerned.

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Underinsurance
Underinsurance is when your insurance cover, or sum insured, is less than the value at risk.
Underpinning
When a building’s foundations are strengthened or deepened to manage the risk of subsidence occurring. 
Uninsurable risk
A risk that an insurer will not take on. For example, this may be where an event is inevitable (such as a terminally-ill person’s death), gradual (such as rust or corrosion) or against the law.
Unit trust
An trust or organisation that takes money from individual investors and invests it in stocks and shares for them under a trust deed. The investment is in the form of units in the trust.
Unitised with-profit
A form of with-profits fund where the investor buys units which increase in value in line with any declared regular bonuses and to which a final bonus may be added when the units are cashed in.
Unit-linked annuity
A type of investment-linked annuity where the retirement income paid to you is linked to the performance of units in investment funds. Your retirement income may vary depending on how the investments rise and fall.
Utmost good faith
A term where both the policyholder and the insurer agree not to withhold information or provide false information that could affect the policy.