What is Extended Reporting Period Coverage (ERP)?

The purpose of an Extended Reporting Period (ERP), commonly referred to as “tail” coverage is to provide some degree of malpractice protection to a lawyer/law firm who has left the business, become disabled or retired. Instead of purchasing a new claims made policy year after year, a lawyer/law firm can purchase an ERP for usually one to five years. The ERP does just what you’d think; it allows the lawyer/law firm to extend the period of their last active policy under which claims may be filed, following the original policy’s expiration date. An ERP does not cover any new business activities; rather it only addresses claims that arose after the insured’s prior acts date and before the termination date of the insured’s last in-force policy. ERP is not malpractice insurance if a lawyer/law firm is still writing business; they still needs to keep a policy in force. If a lawyer/law firm elects ERP and then a few months later goes back into business and purchases a new malpractice policy, they have created a gap.