When configuring a rating file in SchemeServe, you may need to apply a minimum rate or minimum premium to ensure that a policy or individual risk group does not fall below a specified amount.

There are two main approaches:

Minimum Rate: Ensures the rate used in a calculation does not fall below a specified percentage.

Minimum Premium: Ensures the net premium does not fall below a specified monetary amount.

This guide explains how to configure both using your rating file and the Matrix.

1. Setting a Minimum Rate

A minimum rate ensures that the rate applied to a calculation cannot fall below a specified percentage, regardless of the calculated rate.

For example, if the minimum rate is 0.15%, but the calculated rate is 0.10%, SchemeServe should use the minimum rate of 0.15%.

How to configure

Within your rating file, use the MAX() formula to compare the calculated rate against the minimum rate.

Example:

MAX(CalculatedRate, 0.15)

This assumes your rating file represents percentages as percentage values. If your rates are stored as decimal multipliers, use 0.0015 to represent 0.15%.

Result: The higher of the two rates is used in the premium calculation.

2. Setting a Minimum Net Premium Across the Entire Policy

If you want to ensure that the total net premium across all risk groups does not fall below a specified amount, you can use the SetMinNet action.

For example, you may want every policy to have a minimum net premium of £250.

Step 1 – Update your rating file

• Add the following action to your rating file:

SetMinNet

• Enter the minimum premium amount:

250

This tells SchemeServe that the overall net premium should be no less than £250.

Step 2 – Configure the Matrix

• Open the scheme's Matrix & Question Set risk groups.
• Navigate to the Main cover group.
• Create a new Fixed Value Load.
• Name the load exactly:

Autoload_Total_Main

• Save your changes.

The load name must match exactly for the minimum premium adjustment to work.

Example

Result: SchemeServe applies the minimum across the entire record, including all cover groups.

3. Setting a Minimum Net Premium for an Individual Risk Group

If your scheme contains multiple risk groups, you may want to apply a minimum premium to one specific group rather than the entire policy.

For example, you may want the Buildings risk group to have a minimum net premium of £100, regardless of the premiums calculated for other covers.

Step 1 – Identify the Risk Group ID

• Locate the risk group in SchemeServe and identify its unique Risk Group ID.

For this example, we will use:

793

Step 2 – Update your rating file

• Add the following action:

SetRiskGroupMinNet:793

• Enter the minimum net premium:

100

• Replace 793 with the ID of the risk group you want to apply the minimum to.

Step 3 – Configure the Matrix

• Open the scheme's Matrix & Question Set risk groups.
• Navigate to the relevant risk group.
• Create a new Fixed Value Load.

Name the load exactly:

Autoload

• Save your changes.

Important: Unlike the overall policy minimum, the individual risk group minimum requires the load to be named Autoload, rather than Autoload_Total_Main.

Example

Result: Only the Buildings risk group is subject to the £100 minimum.

4. Understanding the Difference

5. Testing Your Minimum Rates and Premiums

Once configured, test your changes to confirm that the minimums are being applied correctly.

We recommend testing three scenarios:

1. Below the minimum: Create a quote where the calculated rate or premium is below the configured minimum. Confirm the minimum is applied.
2. Equal to the minimum: Create a quote where the calculated amount matches the minimum. Confirm the amount remains unchanged.
3. Above the minimum: Create a quote where the calculated amount exceeds the minimum. Confirm the higher calculated amount is retained.

When testing minimum net premiums, review the Matrix to confirm that the adjustment has been applied to the correct risk group or overall policy.

Also check that any applicable commission, fees and taxes are calculated as expected.

Key Points to Remember

• Use MAX() when you need to enforce a minimum calculated rate.
• Use SetMinNet to enforce a minimum net premium across the entire policy.
• Use SetRiskGroupMinNet:XXXX to enforce a minimum net premium on an individual risk group.
• For an overall minimum, create a Fixed Value Load named Autoload_Total_Main in the Main cover group.
• For a risk group minimum, create a Fixed Value Load named Autoload in the relevant risk group.
• Always test your changes using the Matrix before publishing them to your live scheme.
• For further information, refer to the Rating File Guide.