Which insurance term refers to the maximum amount an insurer will pay for all claims during a policy period?

The term that refers to the maximum amount an insurer will pay for all claims during a policy period is "aggregate limit." This limit is a crucial aspect of coverage as it consolidates the maximum exposure an insurer has to pay on all claims combined within that specific policy term, irrespective of the number of individual claims made.

Understanding aggregate limits is important because they set a cap on total payouts, which can help policyholders gauge how much coverage they have in total. For example, if a policy has an aggregate limit of $2 million, that is the maximum the insurer will pay for all claims combined during the policy period; once that amount is reached, no further claims will be covered until the policy is renewed or a new one is obtained.

This is different from a per-claim limit, which specifies how much can be paid for a single claim, while a single limit involves a fixed total for both bodily injury and property damage in certain types of insurance. The policy limit, while similar, typically refers to the total coverage amount for a policy but may not always distinguish between individual claims and the total for the policy term, making it less specific than the aggregate limit.