General Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
An insured slips on an icy sidewalk, fractures a hip, and incurs hospital bills and lost wages. In this scenario, the peril is the:
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The peril is the event or cause of loss — here, the accidental fall that produced the injury. The loss is the financial consequence of that event, namely the medical bills and lost income. The icy sidewalk is a hazard, a condition that increased the likelihood of the fall, and the uncertainty of injury is risk. Correctly separating peril (cause), loss (result), hazard (aggravating condition), and risk (uncertainty) is essential exam material.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The bills and lost wages are the loss, not the cause of loss; the peril must be an event, not a financial consequence.
- C) Ice is a physical hazard — a condition that increases the chance of loss — not the peril itself.
- D) Uncertainty of loss is the definition of risk, not the cause of a particular loss.
Memory hook
The fall is the peril; the bills are the loss; the ice just raised the odds.