Definitions of terms used throughout this site

• Crop insurance is agricultural insurance that covers crops against perils such as hail or fire.
• Livestock insurance is agricultural insurance that covers the perils against livestock, such as illness, death, or loss of production, owned by the policy holder(s).
• Weather insurance is agricultural insurance based on the measurable occurrence of a specific peril. Benefits are linked to an objective index. If the index is triggered, clients receive a payment, with no need to calculate individual losses. For example, a payout may be triggered when the amount of rainfall is lower than the index, in the case of drought; or a payout may be triggered when the amount of rainfall is higher than an index, in case of excessive rainfall. The payment is a function of cover purchased rather the actual loss suffered.

Composite insurance is a product that bundles two or more types of insurance. For example, a composite insurance product may bundle health and life insurance into a single package.

Experimental design, also known as "randomized design" or "randomized control trials," involves gathering a set of individuals (or other unit of analysis) equally eligible and willing to participate in the program and randomly dividing them into two groups: those who receive the intervention (treatment group) and those from whom the intervention is withheld (control group). For more information on experimental designs, visit the World Bank's Impact Evaluation site.

Health insurance provides coverage for health care related costs linked to illness, injury, and medical treatment. Health policies offer many different options and combinations; policies include insurance for losses from accident, medical expense, disability, or accidental death and dismemberment.

Impact assessment refers to an evaluation off the change of economic or social parameters of insured clients or their households due to the introduction of a microinsurance product. Impact assessments are important for microinsurance and other development interventions to ensure that development funds are well-spent and that clients are receiving intended benefits.

Life insurance covers the policyholder and his or her family on the event of death and disability. The policy pays death benefits if the insured dies during a specified period. There are five main types of life insurance:

• Term life insurance provides an amount of insurance coverage over a specified period of time, such as one, five, ten, or twenty years. The policy pays death benefits only if the insured dies during the term.
• Whole life insurance provides an amount of insurance coverage over an individual's lifetime.
• Endowment life insurance is payable to the policyholder if living, on the maturity date stated in the policy, or at the time of death, to a beneficiary, if the insured dies before maturity of the contract.
• Credit-life insurance is attached to a loan, and repays the outstanding balance on the loan in default due to the death of a borrower.
• Funeral insurance provides benefits upon death of the policyholder to cope with the high costs of funerals.

Microinsurance refers to the protection of low-income people against specific perils in exchange for regular premium payments proportionate to the likelihood and cost of the risk involved at the "micro" (i.e., smaller than national) level of society. As with all insurance, risk pooling allows many individuals or groups to share the cost of a risky event.

Non-experimental designs do not use a randomly assigned comparison group, as with experimental designs, nor do they use a comparison group constructed through matching or reflexive comparisons, as with quasi-experimental designs.

Property insurance provides coverage against loss or damage of assets.

Quasi-experimental designs construct a comparison group using matching or reflexive comparisons. For more information on quasi-experimental designs, visit the World Bank's Impact Evaluation site.