indemnitor

An indemnitor is a person or organization (usually an insurance company) that provides indemnity—protection or security against damage or loss, or compensation for damages or money spent.

Insurance coverage provides indemnity to a person or organization by insuring them for certain potential situations, such as damages to their property from natural disasters or accidents. Indemnity is commonly used in legal contracts to secure protection against being sued or held responsible for an accident. It’s often seen in the phrase indemnity clause.

The one who provides such coverage is the indemnitor, and the one who receives it is the indemnitee. The indemnitor is typically the insurance company, and the indemnitee is the person or organization who pays for the insurance coverage.

To provide indemnity is to indemnify. The indemnitor indemnifies the indemnitee.

Example: The final damage assessment is the obligation of the indemnitor, not the indemnitee—that’s part of what the policyholder is paying for.

Indemnitor is based on indemnity, which comes from the Latin indemni(s), meaning “without loss” or “uninjured.” This is formed from the prefix in-, which has a negating effect equivalent to un-, and demn-, from damnum, meaning “loss.” The suffix -or is used to indicate the agent of the action—the one granting the indemnity. (In indemnitee, the suffix -ee is used to indicate a person who is the object or beneficiary of something—in this case, the person who is the beneficiary of indemnity.)

Indemnitee and indemnitor are used in the context of insurance and legal contracts. Insurance coverage gives the policyholder indemnity, meaning it protects against financial liability for damages or loss. Damages refers to those that happen to a piece of property like a car or house, or to injuries suffered by a person. Loss refers to things like the loss of income one might experience because they can’t work. The indemnitee is indemnified for these things, meaning they get compensated by the indemnitor for (at least part of) the money lost or spent.

In corporate law, an indemnity agreement often makes a company’s executives indemnitees against personally being sued if the company is sued.

Words like indemnitor and indemnitee are often considered legalese (legal jargon), especially since there are usually less confusing ways to say it. An indemnitor can usually also be called an insurer. An indemnitee can usually also be called a policyholder or the insured.

What are some other forms related to indemnitor?

• indemnity (noun)
• indemnitee (noun)
• indemnify (verb)
• indemnification (noun)

What are some synonyms for indemnitor?

• insurer
• underwriter

What are some words that share a root or word element with indemnitor? 

• condemn

What are some words that often get used in discussing indemnitor?

• insurance
• loss
• damage
• clause
• contract
• agreement
• protection
• compensate
• repay
• reimburse
• safeguard
• secure

Indemnitor is typically used in a technical way in the context of insurance and legal contracts.

FYI: An indemnitor must explicitly agree to indemnify an indemnitee against the indemnitee's own negligence for the agreement to be valid.

— Zach Brien (@ZBrien) October 20, 2010

Indemnitor Owes Indemnity Even Where Indemnitee is Actively Negligent, California Court Holds https://t.co/fAzvQkk8vm

— California Law News (@California_Laws) June 6, 2017

Indemnitee Must Prove Indemnitor Could Have Been Liable at Trial to Recover Settlement (Commercial Division Blog) https://t.co/uoUYdQc67B

— Schlam Stone & Dolan (@schlamstone) December 25, 2015

True or False? 

Indemnitor is a synonym of indemnitee.