Demystifing ALIA: When to report
Timely reporting to ALIA is critical to ensuring you have the support you need should a claim arise.
“How did it get so late so soon?” – Dr. Seuss
For lawyers, time is simultaneously the most cherished career asset as well as the seemingly ever-rising benchmark upon which success is measured. The practice of law is notoriously busy, with no “off” switch. Naturally, when it comes to the obligation of all ALIA Subscribers to report professional negligence claims and potential claims to ALIA “as soon as practicable”, the time commitment associated with the task of reporting can be daunting. But it does not have to be. In Part 1 of this series, this writer shared that the best thing you can possibly do to protect yourself when a potential problem (“however unmeritorious”) arises on a file, is report to. This Part 2 urges timely reporting to ALIA and suggests strategies for doing so that eliminate, or ease, the perceived time burden of doing so.
Reports to ALIA that are not timely can result in denial of coverage. There is no coverage, regardless of whether there has been any prejudice to ALIA, for claims where a Subscriber was aware of a claim or potential claim on or before June 30, 2020, and did not report it by June 30, 2020 (i.e. “true late reports”). The 2020-2021 Group Policy, which came into effect July 1, 2020, saw amendments that included a late notice provision (condition 4.2(b)) for claims and potential claims. It remains a requirement that all claims and potential claims must be reported to ALIA, in writing, during the policy period in which they are first made against a Subscriber or a Subscriber first becomes aware of the claim or potential claim. A claim is “first made” when a Subscriber becomes aware of a circumstance which could reasonably be expected to give rise to a claim, however unmeritorious. For claims “first made” after July 1, 2020, the late notice provision applies. In such cases, coverage can be denied for late reporting if ALIA has been prejudiced by the late notice. The assessment of prejudice is highly contextual, and the onus is on Subscribers to prove that late notice has not prejudiced ALIA.
Given that the question of prejudice is so context-dependent, it is imperative that you report to ALIA as soon as you become aware of a professional negligence claim or potential claim against you. This practice should be followed even if you are, for whatever reason, not able to provide all the details and relevant supporting documentation concurrent with your initial report. While the task of reporting can feel overwhelming amidst your file load, it is better to spend five minutes providing a very high-level overview of the situation, than delay reporting in order to provide a more comprehensive initial report. Condition 4.2(b)(c) provides that after (initial) notification of a claim or potential claim, Subscribers shall submit “as soon as practicable” all information reasonably required by ALIA that the Subscriber is reasonably capable of providing. Make the initial report as soon as you become aware of it and your assigned Claims Counsel will work with you to pinpoint the additional information that is needed from there.
ALIA does require a completed Indemnity Claim Report form for every file eventually, which you will be prompted to attach if making a claim on ALIA’s website. However, if time is an issue, you can report a claim via the Contact Us section of ALIA’s website without the form or any attachments to accompany it and simply provide the form later. Alternatively, you can also report a claim by sending an email to ALIA admin. If you notify our admin team of a claim or potential claim via email, you will have a Claims Counsel assigned to your file, who will reach out to you to discuss further and obtain the information needed to properly assess the file and come up with a plan.
ALIA’s Policy runs from July 1st to June 30thand is renewed on an annual basis. It is a good idea to make it part of your practice to review files for potential issues and report by June 30th, annually. If you have an assistant or associate who is able to help, you may be able to delegate the more tedious aspects of getting your reports signed, scanned and emailed over to ALIA. Use your diary system to give yourself enough time for a comprehensive file review well in advance of the June 30th policy year-end date.
The ALIA team is here to help, guide, and (hopefully) ease stress accordingly. The sooner you report, the more likely and better able we are to help. Add that yearly June 30th ALIA reporting date to your diary system and, again, do not hesitate to report out of an abundance of caution and submit high-level initial reports to ALIA with more fulsome information to follow. Your designated ALIA Claims Counsel will guide your through the process.
At first brush, the “as soon as practicable” reporting obligation that applies to all ALIA Subscribers may feel heavy and overwhelming, and cause many to procrastinate making the necessary report. In reality, that reporting obligation can be satisfied by taking five minutes to send an initial email with a high-level summary. Overall, familiarizing yourself with the ALIA policy, process, and the ALIA team will make the task of reporting much less daunting.
