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No. There are many differences in the coverage offered under lawyers professional liability policies. Although premium is an important factor to consider when choosing your malpractice insurance policy, the overall coverage and financial strength of the insurance carrier should also be examined. Although it’s tempting to choose the policy that offers the lowest price, it may not provide the greatest protection and value for your firm.

Not normally. While it is true that most carriers allow you to cancel midterm and receive a refund for the unused premium, almost all carriers will not quote midterm without a good reason for the switch. The most cited reason to switch carriers midterm is a change in the firms ownership or a new contract that the firm has picked up that requires an increase in limits beyond what the firm’s current carrier is willing/able to offer. Every situation is different, so feel free to contact us to discuss further.

An insurance policy provides coverage for a specified period of time between the effective date and expiration date. Professional liability policies provide coverage for claims that occurred and are reported subsequent to the retroactive date and prior to the expiration date (or end of the extended reporting period) of the policy.

The retroactive date is the date from which your carrier has agreed to provide coverage for any claims made under the policy. Typically, the insured has maintained continuous professional liability insurance from the retroactive date through the expiration date of the current policy. The retroactive date is usually found on the Declarations Page of your policy. Some policies include a “prior acts limitation endorsement” that identifies the retroactive date for an individual lawyer or for the firm. When examining a proposal for lawyers’ professional liability insurance, it is important to make sure that the policy offered includes prior acts coverage back to the retroactive date of your current policy.

This is the coverage that is provided for claims made and reported (1) subsequent to the retroactive date of your policy and (2) prior to the effective date of your new policy. With many carriers a firm must apply for a new lawyers’ professional liability each year. The new policy, whether from your current carrier or a new carrier, includes prior acts coverage as long as your firm has not experienced any lapse in coverage due to nonpayment, nonrenewal or cancellation.

It is not necessary to purchase a tail policy when you switch carriers if your new policy includes prior acts coverage. If your insurance company has declined to renew your insurance because of a poor claims history, a new carrier may decline to offer prior acts coverage. In this case, you should buy a tail policy from the insurance company that has declined to renew. If you leave the private practice of law, you should buy a tail policy from your current carrier to cover any potential claims.

Professional liability policies have “a long tail.” This means that a significant amount of time can pass between the date of an alleged act of negligence and the date the claim is reported. A tail policy or extended reporting endorsement provides a period of time subsequent to the end of a policy period when the insured may report a claim that arose out of an error or omission that occurred during a prior policy period. The tail policy does not provide coverage for claims arising out of professional services provided subsequent to the expiration period of the last policy in effect.

The first number refers to the maximum limit of coverage per claim. The second number refers to the aggregate or total limit of coverage for all claims for the year.

To prevail on a legal malpractice claim, the claimant must prove that “but for the lawyer’s negligence” the claimant would not have incurred a financial loss or damages. The law firm’s exposure to a potential claim is equivalent to the maximum damages a client (or third party who reasonably relied on the lawyer’s professional services) would incur as a result of a lawyer’s negligence. Typically, legal expenses and costs associated with defending a claim are applied to the limits and reduce the coverage available for damages. The policy limit per claim should be comparable to the firm’s maximum exposure including the cost of defending a claim. If a claim for damages exceeds the available limits under the policy, the insurance carrier may tender limits and leave the insured firm exposed to an excess judgment for damages.

Some carriers offer the benefit of having defense costs paid outside the limits of the policy. Depending on the policy, it is sometimes more cost effective to simply increase the overall limits on the policy rather than pay for defense outside the limits coverage.

An aggregate deductible is the total deductible that a law firm will pay for multiple claims reported during the policy period. Some carriers offer this option for an additional premium. Under most policies, the insured will pay a separate deductible for each claim.

Work with an independent agency, such as L Squared Insurance, that specializes in lawyers’ professional liability insurance.

Admitted carriers are protected by the state’s insurance funds in case of a financial default of the insurance carrier. There are payment limits by the state fund and these are usually less than an insured’s Professional Liability limits. Non-admitted carriers are not protected by these state funds.

Rating agency that provides information about the relative financial strength and claims paying ability of an insurer.

Most professional liability policies are Claims Made or Claims Made and Reported. The insurance carrier that carries the current coverage is liable for the claim when the claim is reported, not when the act occurred. Versus an occurrence policy where the insurance carrier that was on the risk when the act occurred is liability for the claim regardless of when it was reported. The major importance of this is to continue to have coverage for Prior Acts in the future, an insured needs to continue to maintain a Claims Made Policy or have an Extended Reporting Period or Tail purchased to cover the acts in the past.

Limits the amount paid by the insured for deductible expenses to the amount shown no matter how many claims are initiated during the policy period.

With this option the insured only pays the deductible if there is an indemnity payment.

A sub-limit that will cover the costs of defending a claim without using the Limit of Liability. Once this is exhausted generally the Limit of Liability is reduced to pay for any additional defense costs.

Insurance coverage that pays once the primary insurance is exhausted. It is very important that the primary and excess policies have the same effective and expiration dates.

Defines what is not insured by this policy. You need to read this section carefully as certain policies by exclude a common area of your practice.

Commonly referred to as Tail coverage, this provides coverage after a Claims Made Policy expires or is no longer in force for acts that occurred during the time a Claims Made Policy was in-force. You generally have a right to purchase this coverage (within 30 to 60 days) whenever a policy is not renewed. It does not provide any coverage for any future acts.

When one insurance carrier will not provide all of the needed insurance coverage. Other carriers may be willing to provide Excess Insurance to provide the necessary limits. A Following Form Policy uses the terms and conditions in the primary insurance policy to cover and settle losses. This helps prevent uninsured insurance exposures that might result if the policy language between the underlying coverage and the Excess Insurance are different.

This is the clause contained in many Insuring Agreements that states that even though the insurer will not settle a claim without the insured’s consent, the insurer’s exposure to the loss is limited to the amount that would have been paid if the insured had taken the insurer’s recommendation. In other words, if an insured does not accept the insurer’s recommendation, then the insured is liable for any additional costs.

Most policy exclude coverage for deliberate or criminal acts. This coverage protects the other partners or principles from the deliberate acts of another employee or partner if the others had no knowledge of the actions.

The Insuring Agreement defines what and who is covered and the responsibilities of all parties.

The maximum indemnity and claims expenses amount that the insurer will pay for all claims reported during the policy period

The maximum indemnity and claim expenses that the insurer will pay for any one claim or incidents that are considered one claim.

This is one of the most important definitions in any policy. It defines who is an “insured” and who is considered insured. These definitions differ from one policy to the next and it is very important to read your particular policy to determine if all operations are covered as expected.

Most Professional Liability policies are annual, but some are multi-year. This is the time between the effective date and expiration date of the policy.

Acts that occurred prior to the current policy period may not be covered unless the current policy has a Prior Acts Date prior to the occurrence of the act or shows no Prior Acts Date.

This is the date that if an act occurred prior to this date, even if it is reported during the policy period the act is not covered. It if very important to maintain your Prior Acts Date once established to prevent gaps in coverage.

This generally occurs during the 1st year of a Claims Made Policy. This is when the Prior Acts Date equals the Policy Effective date. With a policy that the Prior Acts Date equals the Policy Effective Date there is no coverage for any acts that occurred prior to the effective date of the current policy even if reported during the policy period.

A policy may have a Firm Prior Acts date or Individual Prior Acts dates or offer Career Coverage. One is not inherently better than another; it depends on the desire of the firm or practice and the circumstances. It is important to understand the difference:

• Firm Prior Acts: Everyone in the firm is covered by the same prior acts date.
• Individual Prior Acts: Each individual in the firm has a different prior acts date.
• Career Coverage: Regardless of the firm prior acts date each individual has coverage for all covered professional acts.

Many firms choose not to want to expose their policy to prior acts of people that join the firm or practice at a later date. Others want to offer this coverage to all professionals.

Some insureds will include a per-person or some other rate guarantee subject to certain conditions. These have almost disappeared in the past year.

Almost all insurance carriers purchase Reinsurance to cover the policies they write. With Reinsurance a primary insurance carrier is able to spread its ultimate exposure of any one loss or group of losses.

Most Claims Made Policies are Step Rated. During the first few years of a policy the exposure increases as the policy covers more and more Prior Acts. The rate tables for most carriers reflect this and over a 3 to 10 year period the policy premiums will increase as it goes through the rating step years. Once the policy becomes fully rated, then the only changes in premium should occur because of claims history of the individual or the insurance carrier; changes in the areas of practice of the professional; and/or changes in the general insurance environment.

Non-admitted or Surplus Lines insurance policies are generally sold through Surplus Lines Agents that are responsible to the state to pay the premium taxes and fees normally paid by an admitted carrier. Also the Surplus Lines Agent is the point of service should a dispute arises with the non-admitted carrier.

Many insurers attach a copy of the insured’s application to the policy. This makes it part of the policy and “Warrants” the statements made as being absolutely true. Representations are those made by an insured that true to the best of their knowledge. The difference can be important if an insured has not done due diligence in check with all parties in a practice to make sure that all information is properly reported.