Insurance Policy Glossary

Benefits are what you receive when you file a claim for unemployment insurance. Your weekly unemployment checks from the government are your benefits for a government unemployment insurance policy. Loan payments made on your behalf by a private unemployment insurance company are another example of benefits.

Base period is the amount of time used to determine how much money you can receive for unemployment insurance benefits. Your total, pre-tax income during the base period is divided by the number of weeks in the base period to determine your average weekly income.

Disability is a kind of unemployment insurance offered by the government. You can be eligible to receive disability unemployment insurance payments if an illness or physical disability prevents you from working and earning income on a long-term basis. Private insurance can cover short-term work loss due to illnesses and injuries.

Extended benefits are unemployment insurance benefits that are available from the government past the expiration date for regular government unemployment benefits. If the unemployment rate in a state is high, the government may offer extended benefits that cover unemployed people for up to twenty weeks longer than regular benefits.

Risk is how likely you are to need to file a claim for unemployment insurance benefits. People with a high risk are more likely to file a claim to receive unemployment insurance benefits than people deemed to have a low risk.

Exclusions are situations not covered by an unemployment insurance policy. For example, quitting your job or getting fired for misconduct or poor performance are exclusions, and mean you will not be able to collect unemployment insurance benefits in these circumstances.

Limits are the maximum amount of unemployment benefits that you are able to collect. You may be limited to a set number of weeks in which you can receive an unemployment check. Once you exceed the maximum, you will no longer receive benefits.

Premiums are the amount paid in order to be covered under an unemployment insurance policy. For a private unemployment insurance policy, you must pay premiums to the insurance company. Your employer pays unemployment tax to the government, which covers premiums for a public unemployment policy for eligible workers.