(a) a department declared under section 14(1) of the Public Service Act 2008 (Qld);
(b) an office of a Minister who is appointed under section 24 of the Constitution of Queensland Act 2001 (Qld); or
(c) an Entity named in the Insurance Certificate.
Glossary of Terms
An employee, appointee or officer of an Agency.
A specialist in risk analysis, especially as it relates to insurance calculations such as premiums, reserves and outstanding claims liabilities.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is the prudential regulator of banks, insurance companies and superannuation funds, credit unions, building societies and friendly societies. QGIF, being the Queensland Government’s own internal self-insurance scheme, is not a general licensed insurer and is therefore not required to be regulated by APRA.
A person appointed to a board or committee of an Agency (including a director of a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (C’th)).
This document provides a summary of your Agency’s insurance cover, including any variations or specific exclusions, as well as the policy number, period of insurance and the amount of any deductible. The Insurance Certificate is issued at the time of policy renewal.
This document is issued by QGIF and may be provided by an Agency to a third party to confirm the Agency has a current insurance policy with QGIF. A third party may request such a document from the Agency when negotiating the terms of a contract for the provision of a service or the undertaking of a particular activity.
The pre-litigation description of the party making the claim; ie the injured or aggrieved party.
A ‘claims made’ policy covers claims made during the period of insurance. Any incident likely to give rise to a claim must be reported to the insurer in the policy year it was reported and prior to the policy expiring. Commercial insurance policies providing Professional Indemnity, Medical Indemnity and Directors’ and Officers’ Indemnity cover are claims made policies. Under these types of policies failure to report a known incident can result in refusing indemnity for the claim.
The QGIF policy is not a claims made policy. Rather it is a ‘claims occurrence’ policy. This means it covers incidents which happen or occur during the year the insurance policy was in force irrespective of when the claim is notified to QGIF. This provides added peace of mind for our insured agencies.
The QGIF policy is a claims occurrence policy providing agencies with cover for incidents which happen or occur during the year the insurance policy was in force irrespective of when the claim is notified to QGIF.
The policy and claims management system utilised by QGIF to record all insurance policies and premium information. It enables QGIF to record, report on and administer claims, including the financial transactions associated with claim settlements and expenses.
Activities undertaken by the Agency to provide direct assistance to the public and in the protection of the Agency’s assets before, during and after a disaster event. Under the terms of its policy, QGIF will not pay for costs associated with Counter Disaster Operations.
The deductible (also known as excess) is the amount the Agency must pay towards a claim. The deductible (if applicable) is shown on the Agency’s Insurance Certificate.
The Agency and QGIF must act with the utmost good faith towards each other. The Agency’s duty of utmost good faith includes, but is not limited to:-
- disclosing all facts that are material to the risk of loss, damage or liability;
- acting honestly in respect of all claims made by the Agency against QGIF; and
- mitigating any loss suffered by the Agency that is covered by QGIF.
A person or an incorporated body.
Fidelity Guarantee cover is provided under QGIF’s property section and indemnifies the insured Agency for the loss of money or property as a result of fraud, theft or dishonesty by an employee.
Those claims in which an insured agency (the first party in the insurance contract) seeks, and is provided with, indemnity cover in accordance with the terms of the QGIF Insurance Policy – Statement of Cover. Examples of first party claims are claims by insured agencies for damage to, or loss of, the agency’s property.
This refers to the event, occurrence, accident or incident impacting an insured Agency out of which a claim or claims can arise.
A duty to make good any loss, damage or liability incurred by another; the right of an aggrieved party to claim reimbursement for its loss, damage or liability from a person who has such a duty. Indemnity may be granted by QGIF to agencies in accordance with its Policy of Insurance – Statement of Cover.
The state of being legally responsible for something.
Also known as a loss assessor, it is someone engaged by QGIF to assist in determining the extent of the insured Agency’s liability for loss when a claim is submitted.
Involves the movement of functions, resources and people from one government agency to another government agency.
The rendering of, or failure to render, medical or health services which are provided in the conduct of the Agency’s activities and results in bodily injury, mental injury or death of a patient.
Failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation.
Initiating document served by the injured party to commence a claim pursuant to the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002.
An event or incident neither expected nor intended to cause loss, damage or liability from the standpoint of the agency, agency employee, board and/or committee member (as defined in QGIF’s Insurance Policy – Statement of Cover.
The period of time shown on the Insurance Certificate during which insurance is in force.
It is a legal term used to refer to physical or psychological harm or injury to a person.
This is the invoice which accompanies your policy documents and is emailed to your Agency’s Insurance Contact Officer during June each year. It details the cost of cover provided by QGIF and when payment of the premium is due.
Failure to do something that an average member of that profession would do or doing something that an average member of that profession would not do.
Where one insurer transfers all or part of its risk of loss to another insurer. The other insurer is called the reinsurer. QGIF, like other state government self-insurance schemes, purchases reinsurance (external insurance) from the commercial market to cover losses above certain levels, in order to minimize the financial impact associated with large or multiple losses, such as natural disasters.
The right of QGIF as the insurer to pursue recovery of costs from a negligent party once a claim payment has been made. For example, a private vessel damages a Government marine beacon – QGIF will pay the claim and then seek recovery from the insurer of the private vessel.
The possibility of some event occurring which causes loss, damage or injury.
The setting aside of funds by an organisation to meet its current and future losses (i.e. to pay claims) rather than purchasing an insurance policy. The Queensland Government Insurance Fund (QGIF) is the self-insurance fund for all government departments and eligible statutory bodies.
Those claims in which a person who is not a party to the insurance policy, demands payment by way of damages or compensation arising out of an incident for which the third party alleges the first party (the insured agency) is legally liable.
Crown Law is a significant legal service provider for QGIF under the Tied Work Guidelines. The tied work regime applies to Queensland Government agencies. ‘Agency’ in this context means a department or any organisation or business unit within a department and any government instrumentality that represents the Crown. Cabinet has approved a set of principles to be used in defining the categories of legal work that should be tied to Crown law. Further information is available from Crown Law or the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
An insurance term used to describe the process for assessing or measuring risk exposure and determining the premium that needs to be charged to insure that risk and cover the cost of any potential claim. QGIF’s Underwriting Team:
- collects underwriting information from agencies
- works with the State Actuary’s Office to assess the outstanding claims liabilities and determine and allocate premiums sufficient to meet current and future claims
- provides insurance information and advice to agencies
- manages QGIF’s reinsurance program and
- monitors the performance of QGIF’s reinsurance broker.
Any person who works without payment (other than out of pocket expenses) for the Agency and acts under the direction and supervision of the Agency.
The Whole-of-Government (WoG) legal services panel is a standing offer arrangement between the State of Queensland and solicitors firms selected to provide legal services to government departments and other entities. QGIF utilises these arrangements in relation to Medical Indemnity claims and for other matters that don’t fall under the Tied Work Guidelines.