New Year’s Resolutions and Your Policy

By now you likely have committed to spending more time with family and exercising more in 2020.  The New Year is also a great time to review and update your professional liability policy.  Here’s what you should consider as you look at your policy and how to make changes to your policy. 

Updating an Address

Have you moved your office?  You can change your mailing or office address by submitting a Change of Address form.  We recommend that you make this change within 10 days so that important correspondence, invoices, or applications reach you at your new address, and so that your policy documents reflect your new address.

Adding an Attorney

It is important to add the attorney who is new to your firm or practice to your professional liability policy.  A new attorney to your firm is not considered an Insured for purposes of coverage unless he or she is added to the list of lawyers on your firm’s policy.  Claims-made policies typically afford coverage for attorneys beginning on the date he or she joined the firm.  As a Lawyers Mutual insured, your Insuring Agreement states that any addition to lawyers to be insured on your policy must be reported within 30 days of the date he or she joined your firm.  Adding an attorney will require a prorated premium for the current policy period.  You can add an attorney to your firm’s policy by submitting an Additional Attorney Application.

Removing an Attorney

It is equally important to remove an attorney that leaves your firm or practice from your professional liability policy.  The Insuring Agreement states that removal of an attorney from the policy must be reported to us within 30 days of the date he or she left your firm.  Removal of the attorney who has left your firm limits coverage under the policy to acts or omissions that were within the scope of and in furtherance of duties for your firm.  The removal will result in a prorated premium refund for the current policy period.  You can remove an attorney from your firm’s policy by submitting a Request for Attorney Removal form.

Changing Your Firm’s Name

Have you merged or added a named partner?  You can change the firm’s name (also the Named Insured on your policy) by submitting a Change of Business Name form.  Again, we recommend that you make this change within 10 days so that your policy documents, correspondence, and applications reflect your new firm name.

Forms to make these and other changes to your policy can be found on our website under Policyholder Forms at https://www.lawyersmutualnc.com/policyholder-forms.

Ask us questions!  If you have questions about changes you might need to make to your policy or coverage under your policy, contact us at 1-800-662-8843 or underwriting@lawyersmutualnc.com.