Term as writtenWhat it doesWhere it showsWhat to ask
Breakage / unredeemed liability release
Income recognised from entitlements customers paid for and will never use. Improves when redemption gets harder.
A revenue line in the notes tied to deferred income release, or a stated redemption-rate assumption.
What redemption rate do you assume, and what happens to profit if it rises five points?
Redemption friction / process optimisation
Claim or refund pathways tuned to an internal target completion rate.
KPIs on claim completion or abandonment; multi-step processes with postal or written-only steps.
Who owns the completion-rate target, and is it a floor or a ceiling?
Queue management
Wait time used as an attrition filter rather than a capacity constraint.
Abandonment measured but not reported as a failure; service levels defined on answered calls only.
What share of contacts abandon before resolution, and is that number in anyone's objectives?
Term as writtenWhat it doesWhere it showsWhat to ask
Posting order / high-to-low sequencing
Transactions settled largest-first so more of them fail and more fees are charged.
Terms reserving discretion over settlement order; fee income growing faster than transaction volume.
In what order are same-day transactions applied, and who set that order?
Payment message repair
Removing identifying information from a transfer so it clears a check it would otherwise fail.
Manual intervention rates on outbound messages; repair queues staffed as a service function.
How many outbound messages were amended before transmission last year, and by whom?
Settlement optimisation / float
Holding funds in transit and earning on them during the delay.
Value dates that differ from execution dates; treasury income disproportionate to balance sheet.
On what date does the payer stop earning and the payee start?
Term as writtenWhat it doesWhere it showsWhat to ask
Divisive merger / corporate restructuring
A split that sends obligations to a new entity holding no assets, which then files.
A recent reorganisation creating an entity with liabilities and minimal capital; successor-liability language.
Which entity holds the obligation now, what are its net assets, and when was it formed?
Nominee directorship / senior accountability framework
An officer appointed to hold formal responsibility without informational access.
Directors appointed shortly before an issue arises; signatories who appear on filings but not in operations.
What was this director shown before signing, and who prepared it?
Integrated programme delivery
One group writes the requirement, wins the tender, delivers, reviews itself and handles the press.
Common ultimate ownership across suppliers, reviewers and event partners; needs assessment by a bidder.
Who wrote the specification, and are they or any affiliate a party to any contract that followed?
Statutory response window
Thirty days plus a sixty-day extension, applied at each layer, until tracing is impractical.
Extensions granted without stated reason; each response naming only the immediate counterparty.
How many entities are between you and the ultimate beneficiary, and will you name all of them now?
Term as writtenWhat it doesWhere it showsWhat to ask
Rescission for material misrepresentation
Cancelling cover from inception over an unrelated application error, once a large claim arrives.
Application accuracy warranties without a materiality test; a rescission rate reported anywhere.
What proportion of claims above your median were met with a rescission review last year?
Utilisation review
Necessity assessed from a file by a reviewer paid on volume of assessments.
Reviewer compensation tied to case throughput; overturn rates on appeal that are high.
How are reviewers paid, and what share of their denials are overturned on appeal?
Risk-based repricing
Each increase drives out the lowest-risk members, worsening the pool and justifying the next increase.
Lapse rates rising with price; average risk of the book rising year on year.
What is your lapse rate by risk band after the last increase?
Prospective consent / continued use
Agreement now to terms not yet written, revocable only in ways that do not affect what was already changed.
Amendment by notice or continued use; consent surviving assignment to acquirers.
If you change these terms after I sign, what is my remedy other than leaving?
Mandatory optionality
An optional product that cannot be declined at the point of sale and is recorded as chosen.
Pre-ticked or absent decline paths; opt-out only in writing and only within a short window.
Show me the screen where a customer declines this.
Term as writtenWhat it doesWhere it showsWhat to ask
Pre-announcement exposure management
Reducing a position during the predictable window between internal awareness and public disclosure.
Disposals or hedging clustered in the weeks before an announcement; security monitoring reporting to functions other than security.
On what date did the organisation first become aware, and what positions changed after it?
Exceptional item presentation
A penalty disclosed as a notable item rather than as a loss, leaving underlying performance untouched.
Adjusted figures excluding settlements; dividends maintained in a penalty year.
What was the dividend in the year of the settlement, and how did it compare to the settlement?
Working document reclassification
Published material redesignated an internal draft once it attracts criticism.
Withdrawal of a document rather than correction; statements that it should not have circulated.
Was the document approved for release, and by whom, before it circulated?