Hi , In this paper words like deferred and active are not considered jargon , given the fact that the trustees are from varying backgrounds shouldn't these terms be jargons ? A general question Words like claim and death rate be considered jargons for a normal audience or policyholders?
When we are writing to a group which will inevitably have different levels of experience, we do need to make sure that everyone in that group will readily understand the communication - but we have to balance that with being careful not to patronise those who do have understanding and expertise. Trustees need to understand the basics of how a pension scheme operates in order to become a trustee. So here, as the examiners pointed out, we needed to avoid including lots of lengthy explanation of basic pension scheme concepts.
Try to think about what phrases you would have easily understood before you did any actuarial studies. You would probably have been OK with just 'claim', because (for example) general insurance policyholders know that they have to make a claim on their car insurance / travel insurance / home contents insurance if something bad happens. However, a typical policyholder would probably not be so confident in understanding what is meant by a 'claim rate' or 'death rate' - that's a more financial or actuarial concept. Be careful when talking about a 'normal audience' - you need to think carefully about the specific audience who you are writing to in the given scenario within the exam, looking for clues about their background and experience to help you analyse what they might and might not be comfortable with. Also remember that the safest thing to do with something that you are not sure whether would be considered to be jargon or not is to sidestep it completely - express the idea in a different way.
