insurable

IPA/ɪnˈʃʊə.rə.bəl/
IPA/ɪnˈʃʊr.ə.bəl/

insurable — adjective

  • insurablepositive
  • more insurablecomparative
  • most insurablesuperlative

1. able to be covered by an insurance policy — meaning an insurance company agrees

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

able to be covered by an insurance policy — meaning an insurance company agrees to pay for possible damage, loss, or medical costs — because the risk can be calculated and is not too high

Example

Zayd asked his insurance agent whether his old bicycle was still insurable against theft.

passive: is still insurable

The bank refused to give Apinya a loan because the flood-damaged house was not insurable.

negative: not insurable as reason for denial

Common collocations
  • insurable interest
  • insurable risk
  • insurable asset
  • insurable value
  • insurable property
Synonyms
  • coverable

    less common; used mainly within the insurance industry rather than in everyday speech

  • eligible

    broader meaning; requires the longer phrase eligible for insurance to match the meaning of insurable

Antonyms
  • uninsurable

    describes something that no insurance company will agree to cover

Usage Note

Often appears in negative constructions (not insurable) or conditional frames (insurable only if). The noun form insurability is used in technical insurance documents to refer to the status of being insurable.

Common Mistakes

This old car is insure-able for a low price.
This old car is insurable for a low price.
the correct spelling is insurable, without a hyphen.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

While insurable, coverable, and eligible all relate to meeting criteria, they differ in scope and register. Insurable is the standard term used by insurance companies and in everyday conversation about insurance policies. Coverable is a much rarer alternative used mostly by insurance professionals in internal documents. Eligible has a far broader range — a person can be eligible for a discount, a scholarship, or a visa — so you need the full phrase eligible for insurance to match the specific meaning of insurable. Acceptable (to insurers) focuses on the insurer's willingness rather than the technical qualification. For example: 'The wooden house is insurable only after fireproofing' sounds natural to most speakers, whereas 'The wooden house is coverable only after fireproofing' sounds like industry jargon.

coverableeligible ↗acceptable ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • eligible for insurance
  • qualify for insurance

Etymology

Anglo-FrenchEnglish

The word insurable is built from the verb insure (meaning 'to arrange financial protection against loss') plus the suffix -able ('able to be'). Insure comes from the earlier form ensure, which was borrowed from Anglo-French enseurer, a combination of en- ('make') and seur ('sure, secure'). The spelling with in- became standard in the 1600s.

First known use

1810

1810, in the meaning defined above