What is a Step Rate Credit? Many attorneys have questions about what the Step Rate Credit is and how it works.
Simply put, this is a credit issued to you throughout your first five years on a declining scale.
Due to this you will see your premiums “increase” each year. Many insureds get the second year’s invoice and question the increase; which may seem substantial.
Because of the nature of Lawyers’ Professional Liability (“LPL”) insurance claims, the underwriting risk for an attorney does not fully mature until there is approximately 5 full years of prior exposure that is insured. The Step Rate Credit is a credit against your base rate premium in recognition of this limited exposure and it reduces your premium during the first five years of coverage.
The credit applies to any lawyer who purchases coverage for less than 5 full years of prior acts. This could be a new-to-practice attorney or any attorney whose coverage extends backward fewer than five full years.
The Step Rate Credit is applied to the base rate and results in a lower premium during the first five years of coverage. The credit is highest – so your premium owed is lowest – during the first year of coverage and is gradually reduced in each subsequent year as the risk associated with the insurance policy matures. This has the effect of incrementally increasing your premium until the premium is fully mature after five full years of continuous coverage
The Step Rate Credit generally decreases by 15% each year. However, your actual overall premium increase may vary based on other underwriting factors such as your claim experience or a change in your areas of practice, the limits and deductible purchased, or a change in the base rate.
Many attorneys have full prior-acts coverage. However, some attorneys have a Retroactive or “Retro” Date associated with their coverage. A Retro Date is a date stated in the Declarations to the Policy that limits coverage to acts or omissions occurring on or after the stated date. Generally once a Retro Date is established, the attorney cannot ever re-establish coverage for acts or omissions prior to the Retro Date. If the Retro Date for any covered attorney is within 5 years of the inception date of the policy, or within 5 years of the date an attorney joins the firm during a policy period (i.e. a lateral hire), a Step Rate Credit will be applied to that attorney’s base rate premium, thus reducing the premium paid.
If you have questions about your Step Rate credit, or your policy in general, please contact us at 1-800-843-2277 and ask to speak to an Agent.