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Insurance Glossary

The world of insurance for law firms can be confusing, and difficult to navigate. We've created this glossary because these common insurance terms should be easy to understand.

LAWYERS' MALPRACTICE INSURANCE GLOSSARY​

BECAUSE YOU SHOULD EASILY UNDERSTAND THESE COMMON INSURANCE TERMS​

 

ALPS LAWYERS PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE GLOSSARY

Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance (LPLI) is a unique form of liability insurance designed to provide coverage to a lawyer for damages a client incurs arising from an attorney’s acts, errors, or omissions in rendering Professional Services to a client. ALPS provides this Glossary to help you better understand Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance and some of the unique features and benefits of this valuable insurance protection.

Disclaimer: While ALPS provides this Glossary to generally explain the LPLI product and help you understand its unique features and benefits, nothing contained in this Glossary should be interpreted, construed or applied to alter, modify, or amend any of the terms and conditions of any ALPS insurance policy. Each insurance policy ALPS issues has been filed and approved by your state insurance regulator. Therefore, ALPS does not alter, modify, or amend any insurance policy, except through an approved or authorized policy endorsement. You should refer to your LPLI policy for the terms and conditions of your LPLI coverage.

Certificate of Insurance

WHAT IS A CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE (COI)?
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Defense within limits vs. defense outside limits

WHAT ARE DEFENSE COSTS IN A PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY POLICY?
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Extended Reporting Period Endorsement

WHAT IS AN EXTENDED REPORTING PERIOD (ERP) ENDORSEMENT?
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First dollar defense

WHAT IS FIRST DOLLAR DEFENSE (FDD)?
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Hammer Clause

WHAT IS A HAMMER CLAUSE?
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Insurance Contact

WHY DOES AN INSURANCE CONTACT MATTER?
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Limits of Liability

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PER CLAIM VS. AGGREGATE LIMITS?
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Maturing (or Maturing Rating)

How does this affect my quote?
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Named Insured

WHAT IS A NAMED INSURED?
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Occurrence vs. Claims Made

WHAT TYPE OF POLICY IS PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE?
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Prior Acts Coverage

WHAT IS PRIOR ACTS COVERAGE?
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Professional Services

HOW ARE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DEFINED?
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Retroactive Coverage Date

WHAT DOES RETROACTIVE COVERAGE DATE MEAN?
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Retro Inception Date

WHAT IS A RETRO INCEPTION DATE POLICY?
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Supplementary Payments

SUPPLEMENTARY PAYMENTS OR SUB-LIMIT COVERAGES?
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Business Owner's Policy (BOP)

WHAT IS A BOP?
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Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL)

WHAT IS COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE?
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Workers’ Compensation Insurance

WHAT IS WORKERS' COMPENSATION INSURANCE?
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Computer Worms

HOW DOES A COMPUTER WORM WORK?
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Drive-by Download

IS A DRIVE-BY DOWNLOAD BAD?
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Email Spoofing

HOW DOES EMAIL SPOOFING WORK?
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Malware

WHAT DOES MALWARE DO?
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Phishing

HOW DOES PHISHING WORK?
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Ransomware

WHAT DOES RANSOMWARE DO?
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Smishing

HOW DOES SMISHING WORK?
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Social Engineering

WHAT IS SOCIAL ENGINEERING?
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Spear Fishing

WHAT IS SPEAR-PHISHING?
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Two-factor Authentication (2FA)

WHAT IS TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION?
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TROJAN

WHAT ARE TROJANS?
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Vishing (Voice Phishing)

WHAT IS VISHING?
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Wiper

WHAT IS A WIPER?
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Wire Fraud

HOW DOES WIRE FRAUD WORK?
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