ESL Podcast 292 – Business Insurance

Carson: What happened here?!

Samantha: As you can see, there was an accident. Early this morning, a man driving along this street lost control of his car and ran into the front window of our store. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Carson: What are we going to do? We can’t open for business with this mess. There’s glass everywhere!

Samantha: I think the first thing to do is to call the insurance company. We have full coverage¹, so I’m sure we’re insured against accidents of this kind. As long as our policy hasn’t lapsed² and we’ve paid our annual premiums³, I don’t think we need to worry too much.

Carson: Not worry too much? But what if this is considered an act of God and we’re not covered?

Samantha: Believe me, this will be covered. When we call the insurance company, I’m sure they’ll tell you that.

Carson: Okay, but we can’t open for business. We have to get an adjuster out here and it’ll take days—maybe weeks—for our claim to be paid.

Samantha: That’s why we have business interruption insurance. Don’t you remember we added that to the store’s policy last year after you were in the hospital for three weeks? We got it to guard against the store having to close temporarily and the business losing money. Let’s get the ball rolling by calling the insurance company.

Carson: I forgot about the business interruption insurance. Thank goodness you’re here. What would I do without you?

Samantha: Just remember that the next time I ask for a raise.

Carson: A raise? Oh, right. Come on. Let’s not sit here talking all day. We need to call the insurance company.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》