Terminology

Claims made = the injury is matched to the year in which the claim is made and sent to the underwriter.

Self-regulation = voluntary (= non-statutory) way of addressing issues such as medicines-related injuries (Medicines-related Injuries Insurance), good journalistic practice (Council for Mass Media in Finland) or the steering of pharmaceutical marketing (Supervisory Commission for the Marketing of Medicinal Products).

Medicine = in pharmaceutical insurance contexts, the term 'medicine' refers to a pharmaceutical product or substance intended for human use in compliance with the Medicines Act, but not to the traditional herbal medicinal products or homeopathic products as defined in the Act. Moreover, the term 'medicine' also covers IUDs, serums or vaccines.

Commitment pertaining to medicine-related injuries = the Commitment is a prerequisite for the membership in the Co-operative. The signed Commitment is sent to the Co-operative as an attachment to the applications.

In the Commitment, the applicant:
1) undertakes to become a party to the medicines-related injuries insurance with the respective obligations; 
2) accepts the fact that the policy-holder of the medicines-related injuries insurance is the Co-operative, established for the purpose, which adopts the policy and the terms and conditions; and 
3) undertakes to cover the costs incurred for the participation in the medicines-related injuries insurance during the claim period, as defined in the policy terms and conditions, and pertaining to the period of Co-operative membership of the party in question.

Legal entity = in jurisprudence, a party that can have rights and obligations. This characteristic makes the party legally competent. Legal entities can include natural persons, in other words, people as well as legal persons, i.e., various companies, corporations and parties subject to public law.

Co-operative = a corporation constituted by its members established to manage the medicines-related injuries on behalf of its members. The purpose of the Finnish Co-Operative for Pharmaceutical Injury Indemnities is to support the business of its members and serve the members by a) attending to the indemnity issues which are a collective responsibility of the members, in line with the commitment pertaining to medicines-related injuries accepted by each member; and  b) attending to other issues concerning the medicines-related injuries insurance and the injuries in question, falling within its competence under the Commitment or the decision taken by the Co-operative.

Share = the Co-operative's capital is constituted by the shares contributed by the members. The criteria for quantifying the shares are included in the Co-operative bylaws.

Policy-holder = the policy-holder of the Medicines-related Injuries Insurance is the Finnish Co-operative for Pharmaceutical Injury Indemnities. It negotiates with the Insurance Company to conclude the annual Medicines-related Injury Contract which constitutes, among other issues, the criteria for determining the premiums payable to the Insurance Company.

Premium = the Co-operative pays the Insurance Company the annual charge agreed upon in the Contract signed annually between the parties. To cover this annual charge, the Co-operative invoices the members for the premium based on their shares.

Extraordinary premium = the members will be liable to pay the Co-operative an extraordinary premium, for example in situations in which one member fails to pay their share of the premium or in case of a medicines-related injury covered by the deductible.

The joint and several extraordinary premium is imposed on each member on the basis of their existing shares.