Costs and Discounts

What are the costs associated with joining Terrafirma?

When land trusts first join Terrafirma, they pay a registration fee along with the annual premium. Afterward they pay only the annual premium for each year of continued coverage -- provided that the organization maintains continuous coverage from year to year. Discounts may apply for qualified land trust. See below for details.

What is the registration fee?

The registration fee is paid upon joining Terrafirma. It is a sliding scale fee based on the number of parcels the organization is enrolling.

The current registration fee schedule is as follows:

1 to 10	$375
11 to 24	$600
25 to 49	$900
50 to 99	$1,400
100 to 299	$1,900
300 to 499	$2,400
500 to 999	$2,900
1000 to 1999	$3,400
2000 and up	$4,000

What is the annual premium?

The premium is $67 per insured parcel (parcels include conservation easements, fee properties, trail easements, access easements) starting in Policy Year 2023 (begins March 1, 2023). Discounts are offered for accreditation, best practices, risk management training, and bulk properties.

If a land trust wants to insure a particular parcel type, then all parcels in that type held by the land trust must be insured (for example: if a land trust has ten conservation easements and wants to insure it's conservation easements, it must insure all ten conservation easements and cannot selectively choose which conservation easements to insure). A land trust can select to insure just one, more, or all parcel types it holds and insuring one parcel type doesn't require insuring other parcel types (for example: a land trust has ten conservation easements and five access easements. The land trust can insure it's ten conservation easements without needing to also insure it's five access easements). Because legal risk exists for all parcel types, Terrafirma highly encourages land trusts to insure all parcel types. 

Are there any discounts?

Yes!  There are discounts for attending risk management trainings, for following Best Practices, bulk properties, and for accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. The discount for attending risk management trainings is $1 per parcel. The discount for following Best Practices is $4. The discount for accreditation is $11. Multiple discounts are allowed but the Accreditation Discount and Best Practices Discount may not be combined. Please note that discount prerequisites must be completed every year to qualify for the respective discount for the coming policy year and discounts cannot be retroactively applied.

 

Accredited	Discount	Non-Accredited	Discount
Accreditation Discount	$11 per parcel	Best Practices Discount	$4 per parcel
Risk Management Discount Bulk Properties (250+) Discount	$1 per parcel $3 per parcel	Risk Management Discount Bulk Properties (250+) Discount	$1 per parcel $3 per parcel
Total Possible	$15 per parcel	Total Possible	$8 per parcel

 

You can see examples of how the discounts add up below:

Premium	Discounts	Portfolio of 15	Portfolio of 150
Not accredited but qualified for discounts	$5	$930 annual premium	$9300 annual premium
Accredited	$12	$825 annual premium	$8250 annual premium
Not accredited and no discount	$0	$1005 annual premium	$10050 annual premium

 

 

How does my land trust qualify for the discount for risk management trainings?

To qualify for the risk management trainings discount, a senior staff member or board member from your land trust must attend a live qualified risk management training every year. Watching a recording of a qualifiying event does not count as attending. Please note that an approved risk management course must be completed every year to qualify for the risk management discount for the coming policy year and discounts cannot be retroactively applied. Qualifying staff includes:

• Any board member
• Any attorney
• Any executive director or president
• Any director level position
• Any VP, manager (excluding office manager, unless they are the sole staffer), CFO or COO
• Stewardship and conservation coordinators

The Land Trust Alliance provides Risk Management trainings as free webinars every year. See the list of webinars here.

The Land Trust Alliance's annual Rally event also offers eligible courses.

Terrafirma also provides a quick, free, and easy-to-use Guide to Risk Management for Land Trusts. This online course takes under half an hour and, once completed, qualifies your land trust for the risk management discount.

 

How does my land trust qualify for the Best Practices discount?

Land trusts seeking the Best Practices discount of $4 per insured parcel must attest to meeting all the following conditions:

1.  Every transaction is reviewed and approved by a qualified attorney prior to closing.
2. A written policy on violation resolution is in place and followed.
3. A written conflict of interest policy is in place and followed.
4. Written criteria exist for selecting land and easement projects consistent with the land trust’s mission.
5. Each project is evaluated for its performance of the land trust’s perpetual stewardship responsibilities.

Land trusts must attest to Best Practcies every year to qualify for the Best Practices discount for the coming policy year and discounts cannot be retroactively applied.

 

How does my land trust qualify for the Bulk Properties (250+) discount?

Land trusts seeking the Bulk Properties discount of $3 per insured parcel must meet the following conditions:

1. It has to have 250 or more parcels that are insured with Terrafirma, and 
2. It has to meet all three of the following criteria:

• having closing documents reviewed by in-house legal counsel or by a retained outside counsel who is on call under a written agreement,
• having a formal written program to personally visit every successor landowner with a conservation easement, and
• having a database system for tracking records, visits, amendments, reserved rights, discretionary approvals and violations. 

Land trusts fulfill the requirements in #2 by self-attesting in the annual application that they meet those requirements. Failing to self-attest to these requirements in the annual application will result in the land trust not qualifying for the bulk properties discount. 

Is there a fee for dropping out of Terrafirma?

There's no fee for dropping out of Terrafirma after you have joined. However, you should keep in mind the following repercussions should you decide to rejoin later on:

• You will lose the registration fee you have already paid. If you decide to re-enroll later, you’ll have to pay another registration fee and the amount will likely be higher than what you previously paid.
• Your coverage will end when your policy expires and – even if you re-enroll a year later – you will have a coverage gap as the new policy would be effective only as of the reenrollment date. This means it will only cover claims based on problems that come to light after that date.
• You will have to pay a 50 percent co-payment for any claims during the first year after your coverage restarts.