Advanced Product Designer App glossary

The XML file that Advanced Product Designer App creates when you export an APD product.

A basis-scalable object means that the ratable basis for the object already considers time in some way. For example, it might capture the total payroll between two dates. Those costs are rated with a calculated adjusted rate multiplied by the basis in question, just like rate-scalable costs. Notable basis-scalable objects include workers’ compensation exposures and some general liability exposures.

Groups of clauses (policy coverages, exclusions, and conditions). In PolicyCenter, you can group clauses into categories.

Businesses that perform similar tasks are prone to similar risks. Class codes differentiate between the relative riskiness of different types of activities and are a way for an insurer to assess and rate risk. They also imply a unit of measurement for the risk (the basis) and a rating factor. Class codes are usually defined by industry organizations such as ISO or by regulators. Class codes only apply to commercial lines, and not all jurisdictions use class codes.

A generic term for policy coverages, conditions, and exclusions.

Use categories to group similar clauses.

A value that specifies the extent, degree, or an attribute of a clause. Clause terms are often limits or deductibles. A clause can have zero, one, or many clause terms.

One of a list of values pertaining to a specific clause term.

A contractual obligation defined in the insurance contract. Conditions neither provide nor exclude coverage. Conditions vary from simple and obligatory such as, “You will pay your bill,” to complex concepts such as retrospective rating in workers’ compensation policies.

See risk object.

Protection from a specific risk.

A product edition defines product model properties and subclause relationships for product lines. Each product line has a Base edition that defines product model properties and subclause relationships for the base product line. You can use product editions to introduce changes to a product after it has gone into production. Typically, products start out with only the Base edition. Create additional editions if there is a filing or other business reason to change the product as of a certain effective date. You can create different editions based on the values of certain dimensions, or segments, such as jurisdiction, brand, channel, partner, organization, and business type.

Causes of loss that are explicitly not covered by the policy, so that the insurer has no exposure to claims in those areas.

An exposure represents a potential for accident or loss due to a risk, such as lawsuits or hazardous materials. Exposures quantify risk, typically by entering class codes and a basis amount. Insurance premiums are calculated by applying rates to the exposure basis such as payroll (as in worker’s compensation or general liability), receipts, sales, square footage, area, or man-hours (for general liability), per unit (as in automobile), or per $1,000 of value (as in property insurance).

Forms are the documents (template contracts) defining standard types of coverage and endorsements. A policy typically contains a series of forms plus a dec sheet (which provides a summary of the benefits provided by the policy).

Visualized products become installed products after you generate product code in the finalization process. You can view installed products on the Externally Managed tab of the Product Management screen.

A tool that provides configuration, storage, versioning, and deployment of configuration resources for Guidewire cloud services. The configuration resources are stored in git branches. Creation and merging of branches are handled in Bitbucket.

A visual representation of hierarchical information. The map can help you capture ideas quickly and efficiently, clarify thought processes, manage complex information, and promote team collaboration.

Modifiers are factors that affect rating and typically result in an increase or decrease in the premium for a policy. There are multiple types of modifiers, many of which are specific to a jurisdiction. Modifiers can be added to a product or a product line. Modifiers added to a product affect rating for all lines in that product. Modifiers added to a product line affect only that line.

A product that combines multiple lines of business into a single policy for easy administration and as a convenience to the insured.

The PolicyCenter term for a product line. In PolicyCenter, the policy line defines coverages, forms, modifiers, and other information related to the policy.

A product is an insurance product, such as personal auto or commercial package, that an insurance company offers for sale to its customers. A product sale results in a policy. The corresponding PolicyCenter term is product.

In the P&C industry, this term usually refers to rates, rules, and forms. In PolicyCenter, this term also includes product and risk modeling, rating, underwriting rules, and forms inference, among others.

A product line, sometimes referred to as line, is contained in a product. Multiline products contain one or more product lines. The corresponding PolicyCenter term is policy line. In PolicyCenter documentation, policy line, line of business, and product are sometimes used interchangeably, especially in products containing a single policy line.

A question set is a collection of questions presented within PolicyCenter that gathers information about an applicant. You use the answers to these questions to evaluate the risk associated with a policy applicant. You can use question sets to:

• Determine whether an applicant qualifies for a given product
• Gather information relevant to the policy premium

Most insurable objects are rate-scalable. For rate-scalable objects, the rating looks up the rate based on a variety of factors such as the type of vehicle, the coverage terms chosen, the date and state. Often this calculation uses data from a table. Rating modifies that rate based on a variety of other factors (such as vehicle cost or driver age) to make a final adjusted rate. That final adjusted rate is generally the cost for the entire rated term. The final cost is that amount prorated over the portion of the policy for which the cost is appropriate.

The reference date is compared against the start and end effective dates to determine the availability of a pattern.

A risk object captures information about the risks covered by a policy. The risk object can be a tangible object such as a car or a building. The risk object can be a location, which is special type of risk object. Or the risk object can be an intangible object such as a jurisdiction or the policy line. A risk object may or may not have attached coverages. In PolicyCenter, a risk object is referred to as a coverable.

Schedules are lists that contain detailed information about an insured’s risk objects. Schedules can have coverage terms, and these types of schedules can affect rating.

You can create editions based on the values of one or more dimensions, or segments, for example jurisdiction, brand, channel, partner, organization, or business type. Segments are defined on line fields.

As a premium, it is a extra charge, typically when an insurer feels that standard rates are not sufficient for a single policyholder. The policyholder may be offered insurance only if they will accept a surcharge added to the premium. Some taxes are also referred to as surcharges. As a tax, it is usually a regulatory charge enacted into law for a particular purpose in a particular jurisdiction. In essence, it is a tax that is being collected for a particular time and for a certain defined purpose.

A simulated insurance product created using Advanced Product Designer App that you can use for testing purposes. For example, in PolicyCenter, you can run submissions and other policy transactions on a visualized product.