Product model availability overview

Availability is frequently determined by start and end effective dates. The reference date is compared against the start and end effective dates in the availability lookup tables to determine whether the pattern is available. This topic describes why patterns change over time and how the application determines the appropriate reference date to use.

The coverages, exclusions, and other aspects of a policy’s definition that can be used by an insurer change over time, as do the rates that are applied to these. These changes occur because insurers typically file their rates, forms, and underwriting rules with the regulatory body for each jurisdiction, and these filings change over time. (Examples of regulatory bodies are the state departments of insurance in the United States.) For example, an insurer might start offering a new coverage, along with its form, rates, and the underwriting rules. This new coverage becomes available on a particular date and is not be available retroactively. PolicyCenter tracks these dates through effective and expiration dates in the availability tables of the product model. It is the responsibility of the rating engine to maintain effective and expiration dates on the rate tables.

The reference date that is compared against the effective and expiration dates of an availability or rating table is not always the same. It might be the start date of the policy period, the current date, or another date entirely. To handle this, PolicyCenter has a framework to determine the appropriate reference date before determining the availability of patterns in the product model.

The first step to determining the appropriate reference date is to determine the type of reference date. The reference date types are:

• Written Date – The date something was created or processing was started.
• Effective Date – The date something was applied to a policy.
• Rating Period Date – For Workers’ Compensation only, this date is based upon the anniversary date of the policy.

See also

• Setting the reference date

You can specify whether to use a pattern based on the policy transaction type. Insurers may want to make a coverage or other pattern available to new business before allowing for renewal business. Insurers do this to make changes available as soon as possible without having to update in-process renewals.

For example, a pattern can be available for all new business, of any policy transaction type except renewals, starting on a particular date. Specify the start date for submissions, policy changes, and other transactions. Specify a later start effective date for renewals. In this way, the pattern is made available sooner for most usage, including submissions and policy changes, but later for renewals.

See also

• Defining pattern as available on a job-by-job basis

Grandfathering allows you to continue to offer a coverage or other pattern to existing customers, even though the pattern is not otherwise available. Therefore, you cannot use the pattern with new customers or as an addition to policies of existing customers. However, the pattern is not be automatically removed from existing usages. Grandfathering is available on:

Grandfathering is determined by the jurisdiction, underwriting company, and end effective date. Once configured, grandfathering is automatically applied, typically during renewal policy transactions. Grandfathering can also be applied during renewal upon conversion from a legacy system.

For example, the insurer decides to offer a particular coverage in California until December 2017, then grandfathers the coverage until December 2019. The insurer also offers this coverage in Nevada until October 2017, then grandfathers the coverage until May 2020.

See also

• Configuring grandfathering

You can make changes to availability data and upload these changes to a running PolicyCenter server or clustered group of servers. The types of availability data you can upload are:

• Lookup tables
• Availability scripts
• Grandfather states

See also

• Reloading availability data
• Reloading availability example