Setting Effective Period and Time of Day for Policy Terms

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The options in the General Information page to control the beginning and end of the policy period can have a direct effect on how the coverage period is seen by users.

This section provides a detailed explanation of these features and how they affect the Effective Period of any submissions and policies created under each master cover. A proper understanding of these features is valuable in preparing documentation, reports, and training or instructions for users.

Policy Term Dates

This setting controls when a Policy Renewal will occur in relation to the prior term’s Valid Until date. Two options are available:

Inclusive With Next Day Renewal

The effective period includes the entire Valid Until date, with any renewal starting on the day after the Valid Until date.

The Policy Start Time setting will be set to 12:00 AM, but will have no effect on the effective period of the term. However, the time component will be visible when the term dates are used in documents or calculated fields, so formatting or formulas may need to be adjusted.

With this setting, the system uses all days in the term for rating calculations.

Exclusive With Same Day Renewal

The effective period includes part of the Valid Until date, up to the selected Policy Start Time. Any renewal will start from the Policy Start Time of the previous term’s Valid Until date.

With this setting, the system uses the entire first day of the term for rating calculations, but excludes the last day. This ensures that the calculations are performed with the correct number of days for the term, regardless of mixed settings.

Notes:

Any master cover settings that restrict the dates of the Effective Period can conflict with the option chosen for the Policy Term Dates field. Make sure that all date restrictions are known before configuring these options.

The Policy Term Dates setting can be changed on a term-by-term basis within a single policy. This can create gaps or overlapping periods with a term and its renewal. Documentation and training should clarify how these will be handled by the policy.

Policy Start Time

When Exclusive With Same Day Renewal is selected in the Policy Term Dates field, this option can be changed to any hour of the day, from 12:00 AM (default) to 11:00 PM. The Effective Period extends from the selected time of the Effective Date to the selected time on the Valid Until date.

Note: This setting does not affect internal calculations such as prorating, since the calculations are based on the total days of the term. However, any features that perform date comparisons with the Valid Until date (such as triggers and calculated fields) could be affected depending on the time of day used in the comparison values.

Combining Policy Term Dates and Policy Start Time Features

Some care should be taken when using these settings, as they may make it difficult for users to determine the true . Some example configurations of the Effective Period panel on the Master Cover - General Information page are provided below.

In this example, the policy term has an Effective Date of Jan/1/2000 and a Valid Until date of Dec/31/2000. Inclusive With Next Day Renewal is selected for the Policy Term Dates field and the Policy Start Time field is fixed by the system to 12:00 AM. The term’s coverage begins at the start of the day on the Effective Date and ends at the end of the day on the Valid Until date.

Any renewal would begin at the start of the day after the Valid Until date. In this example, the renewal would occur on Jan/1/2001 at 12:00 AM.

Although 12:00 AM is saved with the Valid Until date, the effective period includes the entire day of the Valid Until date when performing rating calculations. Users may interpret a 24-hour gap in coverage from Dec/31/2000 at 12:00 AM to Jan/1/2001 at 12:00 AM. Documentation and training should clarify the inclusion of the entire day of Dec/31/2000 in the term’s effective period.

Note: When Inclusive With Next Day Renewal is selected, the system will use the entire day of all days in the term for rating calculations, including the entire day of the Valid Until date.

In this example, the policy term has an Effective Date of Jan/1/2000 and a Valid Until date of Jan/1/2001. Exclusive With Same Day Renewal is selected for the Policy Term Dates field and the Policy Start Time field is set to 12:00 AM. The term’s coverage begins on the Effective Date at the selected time and ends on the Valid Until date at the selected time. In this example, the term’s coverage is from Jan/1/2000 at 12:00 AM to Jan/01/2001 at 12:00 AM. Any renewal would begin on the same day as the Valid Until date at the selected Policy Start Time. In this example, the renewal would occur on Jan/1/2001 at 12:00 AM.

In this situation, where the Valid Until date of the first term is the same day as the Effective Date of the renewal, users may interpret a one-day overlap in coverage between the two terms. Documentation and training should clarify the exclusion of Jan/1/2001 from the first term.

Note: When Exclusive With Same Day Renewal is selected, the system will include the entire first day of the term for rating calculations, and will exclude the entire day of the Valid Until date, regardless of the Policy Start Time.

In this example, the policy term has an Effective Date of Jan/1/2000 and a Valid Until date of Jan/1/2001. Exclusive With Same Day Renewal is selected for the Policy Term Dates field and the Policy Start Time field is set to 1:00 PM. The term’s coverage begins on the Effective Date at the selected time and ends on the Valid Until date at the selected time. In this example, the term’s coverage is from Jan/1/2000 at 1:00 PM to Jan/01/2001 at 1:00 PM. Any renewal would begin on the same day as the Valid Until date at the selected Policy Start Time. In this example, the renewal would occur on Jan/1/2001 at 1:00 PM.