Insurance

1. Vocabulary

Exercise 1. Study the vocabulary:

insurance – страхування

simultaneously - одночасно

transfer – передача, перехід

loss – збиток, втрата

entity – особа, суб`єкт

insurer – страховик

insured – страхувальник

insurance rate – страховий коефіцієнт

premium – страхова премія

insurance policy – страховий поліс

insurance coverage – страхові внески

insurance benefit – страхові виплати

to charge – нараховувати, стягувати

Liability Insurance – страхування громадської відповідальності

Disability – втрата працездатності

Damage – заподіяти шкоду

аccident – нещасний випадок

afford – мати змогу

sufficiently capitalised – достатньо забезпечені капіталом

to turn - звертатися

bills - рахунки

II Reading

Exercise2. Read and translate:

Text A

Insurance

In some sense we can say that insurance appears simultaneously with the appearance of human society. We know of two types of economies in human societies: money economies (with markets, money, financial instruments and so on) and non-money or natural economies (without money, markets, financial instruments and so on). The second type is a more ancient form than the first. In such an economy and community, we can see insurance in the form of people helping each other. For example, if a house burns down, the members of the community help build a new one. Should the same thing happen to one's neighbour, the other neighbours must help. Otherwise, neighbours will not receive help in the future. This type of insurance has survived to the present day in some countries where modern money economy with its financial instruments is not widespread. Turning to insurance in the modern sense (i.e., insurance in a modern money economy, in which insurance is part of the financial sphere), early methods of transferring or distributing risk were used by Chinese and Babylonian traders as long ago as the 3rd BC.

Insurance is now defined as the transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance. The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium. The concept of insurance is fairly simple — it involves paying someone (the insurance company) to take on a certain risk. When you buy an insurance policy (insurance contract), you agree to pay a premium (the cost of the insurance) to an insurer. The insurer, in turn, agrees to pay a specified amount of money in case something covered by your insurance is damaged, lost, or stolen. For example, those of us who own cars are required to carry automobile insurance. We pay the premiums, whether or not we have accidents. When we do have an accident, our insurer is responsible for paying the bills related to the accident, in whatever amount is specified in the insurance policy.

You can buy insurance to cover almost any risk — the risk that you will die, or that you will become ill and require medical attention, or that you will have a car accident etc.

When you buy insurance, there are lots of things to think about — specific risks you are actually facing, where you are in your life, how much insurance coverage you can afford to pay, and other factors. So before you get started making decisions about buying insurance, it’s helpful to know something about each of the types of insurance that are available to you.

There are several different categories of insurance:

• Life Insurance

provides an insurance benefit when the person who is insured dies

• Health Insurance

covers certain medical expenses and prescription medications

• Property Insurance

pays a benefit if your property is damaged

• Liability Insurance

provides you with insurance protection if you cause damage to someone’s health or property

• Disability Insurance

pays you income if you are unable to work

• Business insurance

any kind of insurance that protects businesses against risks.

An insurance company is usually comprised of numerous insurance agents. An insurance company can specialize in one type of insurance or offer multiple types. The financial stability and strength of an insurance company should be a major consideration when buying a policy.

The financial crisis has shown that the insurance sector is sufficiently capitalised. The vast majority of insurance companies had enough capital to absorb losses and only a small number turned to government for support.