Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

ProAssurance is involved in various legal actions related to insurance policies and claims handling including, but not limited to, claims asserted by policyholders. These types of legal actions arise in the Company’s ordinary course of business and, in accordance with GAAP for insurance entities, are considered as a part of the Company’s loss reserving process, which is described in detail under the heading "Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses” in the Accounting Policies section of Note 1.

ProAssurance has funding commitments primarily related to non-public investment entities totaling approximately $110.0 million, expected to be paid as follows: $78.0 million in 2016, $31.1 million in 2017 and 2018 combined, $0.3 million in 2019 and 2020 combined and $0.6 million thereafter. Of these funding commitments, $1.6 million is related to qualified affordable housing project tax credit investments and is expected to be paid as follows: $0.3 million in 2016, $0.4 million in 2017 and 2018 combined, $0.3 million in 2019 and 2020 combined and $0.6 million thereafter.

As a member of Lloyd's and a capital provider to Syndicate 1729, ProAssurance is required to provide capital, referred to as FAL. At December 31, 2015, ProAssurance is satisfying the FAL requirement with investment securities on deposit with Lloyd's with a carrying value of $95.8 million (see Note 4).

ProAssurance has issued an unconditional revolving credit agreement of up to £10 million to the Premium Trust Fund of Syndicate 1729 for the purpose of providing working capital. Advances under this Syndicate Credit Agreement bear interest at 8.5% annually, and may be repaid at any time but are repayable upon demand after December 31, 2016. As of December 31, 2015, the unused commitment under the Syndicate Credit Agreement approximated £0.8 million (approximately $1.2 million as of December 31, 2015).

ProAssurance is involved in a number of operating leases primarily for office space and office equipment. The following is a schedule of future minimum lease payments for operating leases that had initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2015.



Operating Leases
(In thousands)
2016	$	5,010
2017	3,669
2018	2,997
2019	2,567
2020	1,784
Thereafter	3,442
Total minimum lease payments	$	19,469

ProAssurance incurred rent expense of $5.1 million, $5.0 million and $3.2 million in the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.