Item Insurance
Item Insurance is a game mechanic introduced with the Age of Shadows expansion, when the game became more item-based, and losing an item was tantamount to losing a skill under the old system.
Basically, for a fee (600 gold pieces per item under most conditions, 300 gold pieces per item in PvP combat), the insured item will stay with the character upon death. Upon resurrection, the item will be in the character's backpack.
Upon Resurrection, the item must be re-insured, unless the "auto-renew" option has been selected.
Many items are lost because players assume that "auto-renew" is the default. It is not. Auto-renew must be selected. So take care to enable auto-renew!!!
Item Insurance and the auto-renew option can be accessed via the character's Context Menu.
In PvP combat, the killing character is awarded an "Insurance Bounty" of half of the money the losing character spent on insurance. In this manner, it becomes possible for a character to make a living from PvP alone, despite the lack of loot in most instances.