Rate table definition

The Rate table definition specifies parameters and the factor required for a given rate table. Each parameter has a matching rule, name and data type, and optional value provider. The matching rules specify how to compare a policy value to the rate table’s parameter value. In the base configuration, the matching rules include exact match, range match, longest substring, less than or equal, greater than or equal, and interpolated match.

A parameter can be defined as accepting multiple values. Multiple values enables you to reduce the number of rows in rate table content. For example, a rate table definition has the same rate factor for a sedan or SUV in California, Washington, or Oregon. With multiple values, instead of six rows, you can represent this rate factor using one row.

You enable multiple values by selecting the Allow Multiple Values field in the rate table definition. You can select multiple values for a parameter if:

You have selected a value provider.
The matching rule is exact match.
The data type is string.

Another parameter cannot depend upon a parameter that allows multiple values.

Value provider in rate table definition

On the Parameters tab of a rate table definition, the Value Provider specifies a parameter value by selecting from a drop-down list of available values. The list of values comes from data within the data model or data within another rate table. If you do not specify a value provider, the parameter value is a free-form data entry field in the Rate Table Editor. You can also specify a value provider on the Factors tab of a rate table definition.

The base configuration includes the following value providers:

Typelist Value Provider – Specify any PolicyCenter typelist to limit the possible values for this parameter. Select a typelist value from a drop-down list for this parameter in the Rate Table Editor.
Product Model Coverage-related Value Providers – Leverage the coverage, coverage terms, and coverage term option values already specified in PolicyCenter. Select a value from a drop-down list for this parameter in the Rate Table Editor. For coverage term and coverage term values, the list is further restricted based on the selected coverage or coverage term.
Reference Factor Value Provider – Specify a factor column in another rate table that provides the possible values for this parameter. Select a value from a drop-down list of values from the reference column in the Rate Table Editor.

Using a reference factor value provider in rate tables

For some rate table information, the factors from one rate table can be parameters to another rate table. Although a single rate table can represent this information, linking two rate tables in this way can make the information easier to maintain. You can use a reference factor value provider to specify a factor column in one rate table that provides values for a parameter in another rate table.

For example, on a personal auto policy, the model year, manufacturer, model, and style map to a class code rate factor in a rate table. The following rate table content shows a small example of the data.

Year minimum	Year maximum	Manufacturer	Model	Style	* Class code
2001	2004	Toyota	Prius		CCAH
2004		Toyota	Prius		IDAH
2011		Nissan	Leaf		JDAE
1993	1997	Volvo	850	Station Wagon	GWMR
1993	1997	Volvo	850	4-door Sedan	GDAR

Note: In the user interface for rate table content, rate factor columns are marked with an asterisk (*).

In another rate table, the class code and age of the vehicle determine the rate factor. The first table links to this rate table because the class code factor from the first table is a parameter in this table.

Class code	Vehicle age	* Factor
CCAH	1	1.0
CCAH	2	0.96
CCAH	3	0.91
CCAH	4	0.85
CCAH		0.78
IDAH	1	1.1
IDAH	2	1.05
IDAH	3	0.98
IDAH	4	0.89
IDAH		0.78

You can configure additional value providers. See Configuring value providers for implementation details of each included value provider and instructions for configuring a new value provider.

Physical tables and entities for rate table definitions

The rate table definitions are logical representations that map to physical tables in the database. An entity in the Data Dictionary describes the properties of the physical table. The physical table contains properties to hold the rate table content in rows. When you create a rate table definition, you must specify the physical table. You can use the same physical table to store the contents of multiple rate table definitions.

For example, the base configuration includes a default, generic physical table that many of the rate tables for most lines of business can use. The DefaultRateFactorRow entity represents the generic physical table. If the generic physical table does not meet your needs, you can create an entity to represent your own physical table.

The generic physical table is appropriate if:

The number of rows expected in the rate table is suitable for in-memory lookup. See Rate table lookup in memory or database.
The parameter and factor columns can map to the available data types on the generic physical table. The table contains:
- Eight string columns
- Eight integer columns
- Six decimal columns
- Two date columns
- Two Boolean columns

Custom physical tables

The base configuration includes one sample custom physical table. To view this sample, open the CoverageFactor rate table definition. The custom physical table is specified in the Physical Table field in the Basics tab.

This sample custom physical table contains properties for coverages and coverage term values parameters to derive a single decimal factor. This custom physical table, the CoverageRateFactor entity, contains columns for:

Coverage Code
Coverage Term Code
Coverage Term Option Code
Jurisdiction
Factor

For large rate tables, Guidewire recommends using a custom physical table to for efficient memory usage in the database.

If the rate table is to be used with database lookup, Guidewire recommends adding an index to your custom row to reduce retrieval time. For optimal performance, include the foreign key to the rate table, all the parameter values, and all the factor values in the index. PolicyCenter displays a warning if database lookup is used on a row which is not fully indexed.

Rate table lookup in memory or database

For each rate table, you can choose whether to load the rate table content into memory or access it from the database. By default, PolicyCenter loads rate table content into memory. Loading the rate table content in memory can provide quicker access.

Consider using database access only for very large tables which are used relatively rarely or if loading the table into memory degrades system performance or results in out-of-memory errors.