A waiver is a voluntary surrender of a right or privilege that exists. An implied example in a professional liability insurance policy by virtue of the policy contract language is the insured waiving the insured’s rights to choose a preferred legal defense attorney at the expense of the insurance carrier, in lieu of the insurance carrier providing an assigned legal defense attorney at its own expense.
This is a common practice in the industry in order to control legal defense costs and to keep premiums low. Insurance carriers negotiate favorable legal defense hourly rates at a national level with skilled and thoroughly vetted attorneys who are expert in professional liability matters.
In other examples, the insurance policy has the waiver of subrogation rights by the insurer in favor of the insured in a deductible insurance policy. This means that the insurer is waiving its right to pursue other avenues for recovery from other parties in exchange for the insured paying a deductible for example.