Consider the following statement (written in the context of marine cargo insurance):
The insurers plead negligence on the part of the assured.
The writer is British.
Is the use of assured appropriate here? Or should it be insured?
The relevant definition of insure reads:
arrange for compensation in the event of damage to or loss of (property), or injury to or the death of (someone), in exchange for regular payments to a company or to the state:
The corresponding entry for assure reads:
chiefly British cover (a life) by assurance:
we guarantee to assure your life
Does this mean that you can insure anything and assure only a life? What is the difference between life insurance and life assurance?
Best Answer
It is fairly common to refer to insurance as 'assurance', but, properly speaking, only life insurance is fit to be termed an assurance, while the other kinds of (non-life) insurances may be deemed to be reassurances.
The reason isn't far to seek.
A life insurance policy is the only one that is signed for a sum assured - 'assured', because all humans have to die some day. This ineluctable fact - that all humans are born to die - is the only certainty in insurance, whether or not multifarious other things come to pass.
So to answer your question, yes, you can insure (almost) anything, but can only be assured of someone collecting an insurance company payout in the case of a life insurance policy/plan, which is why it is also oftentimes called life assurance.
In other words, you might insure your house and possessions and nothing might ever be burgled. You can insure your car and drive without getting into a single accident for the rest of your life. You can insure against fire accidents and go without ever having to call the fireman in your waking life. But if you insure your life, you're insuring it for a sum assured. Hope this helps.
EDIT : Found and added a link with a similar query.