Definition of "Long-tail liability"

One where an injury or other harm takes time to become known and a claim may be separated from the circumstances that caused it by as many as 25 years or more. Some examples: exposure to asbestos, which sometimes results in a lung disease called asbestos; exposure to coal dust, which might cause black lung disease; or use of certain drugs that may cause cancer or birth defects. These long-tail liabilities became very expensive for many corporations in the 1970s and 1980s, also causing problems for insurers because it was unclear when the situation that gave rise to the claim happened and who should pay the claim. One theory, the MANIFESTATION/INJURY THEORY, states that the insurer is responsible whenever the disease is diagnosed. The other view, the OCCURRENCE/INJURY THEORY, states that the insurer must pay only when the person is injured.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Amount of required capital that the insurance company must maintain based on the inherent risks in the insurer's operations. These risks include asset depreciation risk, credit receivables ...

Property to be insured, or that is insured, which is located within the specific geographical region falling under the auspices of the fire department. ...

Loss of a key person due to death, disability, sickness, resignation, incarceration, or retirement. Because of the expertise of such an individual, there could be a loss of income, market ...

Exclusion of coverage in marine insurance if damage or destruction of property results from war, capture, or seizure. ...

Covers all employees of a business on a blanket basis with the maximum limit of coverage applied separately to each employee guilty of a crime. ...

Retirement plan under which benefits are fixed in advance by formula, and contributions vary. The defined benefit plan can be expressed in either of two ways: Fixed Dollars: Unit benefit ...

Quality of investments of insurance companies. State insurance regulators establish rules for company investments. Authorized investments vary, depending on whether a company is a life ...

Choice of beneficiary in which the death benefit of a life insurance policy is retained by the company to be paid as a series of installments of fixed dollar amounts per installment until ...

a large number of homogeneous exposures (in order for the deviation of actual losses from expected losses to approach zero, and thecreditability of the prediction to approach one). loss ...

Popular Insurance Questions