Our core focus is lawyers professional liability insurance for Oklahoma attorneys in private practice. Though sometimes called by other names – like professional liability (PL), errors and omissions (E&O), malpractice and even professional indemnity – our coverage includes acts or omissions for legal services rendered by the firm.

You deserve simple, straightforward coverage custom created for you and your firm. Our policy, which provides broad coverage, is clearly written and created with our policyholders’ needs in mind.

What is a claims-made policy?

In insurance, there are two main types of policies – occurrence and claims-made. You’re likely to be most familiar with occurrence policies, as this is how your home and auto insurance work. Professional liability insurance is written as a claims-made policy.  In order for an incident to be covered under a claims-made policy, two things must be true: You need to have insurance when the claim is made and your prior acts date contained in your policy must be on or before the date the incident occurred. This is why continuity of coverage is very important.

How much coverage do I need?

When deciding how much coverage you need, carefully consider the value of matters you handle and plan accordingly. Limits are listed as a smaller number over a larger number, like 200/600. The first number indicates the maximum per-claim limit and the second number is the aggregate for the policy year (in this example, $200,000 per claim and $600,000 for the policy year). As OAMIC’s president, Phil Fraim, says, “Unfortunately, there’s no magical formula to determine the appropriate limit – unless, of course, you can tell me what you are going to be sued for.”

How is my premium calculated?

Policy premiums depend on a variety of factors. Some of these are related to the firm, like practice area, number of attorneys at the firm and claims experience. Part of pricing also involves the step-rate discount of each lawyer. Learn about how step rates work. Other factors are related to the policy itself, like your limits of liability, deductible and OAMIC’s base rate. Just like every Oklahoma law firm is unique, every policy we issue is tailored specifically to your firm’s needs. Most who’ve never had coverage are surprised at how little it can cost. The easiest way to find out is to complete our quick application online, and we can usually get you a quote within 24 hours. In it, you can select multiple coverage options so you can decide what works best for you.

Why do I have to complete a renewal application every year?

Every policy is written to a firm on an annual basis. For underwriting purposes, there are a series of questions that we must have answered to accurately assess the underlying risk to insure. Often time attorney rosters, software or procedures, and area of practice can change and impact a firm. Additionally, the renewal application process can be a helpful checklist for the firm to assess and reassess procedures.

How do I keep my coverage or the option to report a claim if I retire?

An attorney can only purchase professional liability insurance while in active practice. This poses a problem for an attorney who is going to go into retirement, become a judge, change firms or enter a non-legal profession. That’s where tail coverage comes in, which is also known as an extended reporting endorsement.