Skip to Content

claims-made coverage trigger

A claims-made coverage trigger obligates an insurer to defend and/or pay a claim on an insured's behalf if the claim is first made against the insured during the period in which the policy is in force.

On This Page

Additional Information


The term "made" means notification to an insured that a demand for money or services is being requested. For example, assume that a policy containing a claims-made coverage trigger is written with a term of January 1, 2015–2016. Coverage will apply to claims made against the insured during this time period. Claims-made coverage is in contrast to policies written with an occurrence trigger, whereby coverage applies to incidents occurring while the policy is in force—regardless of when the claim arising out of that incident is made against the insured. Thus, under an occurrence policy with a term of January 1, 2015–2016, coverage would apply to claims arising from incidents that occurred during the January 1, 2015–2016, period, irrespective of when the claims are made against the insured or reported to the insurer. Although claims-made policies are most often used to write professional and directors and officers (D&O) liability policy forms, they are occasionally found in commercial general liability (CGL) policies.

Related Terms


A claims-made policy provides coverage that is triggered when a claim is made against the insured...

A claims-made and reported policy is a type of claims-made policy in which a claim must be both...

A claims-made coverage trigger requiring that a claim be both made against the insured and reported...

The coverage trigger is the event that must occur before a particular liability policy applies to a...

An occurrence policy is one that covers claims that arise out of damage or injury that took place...