Claims-made vs claims-occurring insurance

The policy specifies when a claim must be made against you and any additional reporting requirements. Its definition determines what counts as a claim: a written demand or allegation may qualify without court proceedings.

Check the actual professional indemnity wording rather than assuming all policies have identical terms.

When must the claim be made and reported?

“Claims-made and notified” wording requires the claim to be made against you and reported to the insurer within the specified period. Reporting to the insurer is called notification. Check the exact requirements and any provisions linking later claims to earlier notices.

An active policy alone does not establish cover. Nor does the date you tell the insurer establish when the claim was first made. Identify both dates.

Earlier work and known matters

Check the services insured, any retroactive date, and rules about earlier claims or known problems. A retroactive date may restrict cover for earlier work; its effect depends on the wording. The work and claim do not necessarily have to fall within the same policy period.

Buying insurance today does not automatically cover an already known claim or circumstance. For previous-work checks, see retroactive dates and run-off cover.

Claims-occurring, or occurrence-based, wording connects the policy period to the specified event, injury, damage or loss. This is not necessarily the date of a mistake or the day work was completed.

For example, a hypothetical clause might use physical damage occurring during the policy period. You would need to establish when that damage occurred, rather than using the work-completion date alone.

A later allegation may concern an occurrence within an earlier period, subject to the cover and other terms. Check reporting requirements separately. Expiry does not by itself mean every later allegation is excluded or covered indefinitely.

You may also see “losses occurring” or “claims arising”. These labels do not establish identical terms. Keep historic documents and ask for clarification if the relevant period is unclear.

Separate the work, alleged harm, claim and notification dates before asking which provisions may be relevant.

Date	What to establish	Why it can differ
Work performed	When the relevant work or advice took place.	Work can precede harm or an allegation.
Injury/damage/loss	What happened and when the relevant injury, damage or loss occurred.	The trigger may concern something different from work completion.
Claim received	When the defined claim was first made against the insured business.	A demand may precede proceedings or insurer contact.
Insurer notified	When notice reached the required recipient through the specified route.	Telling someone else or obtaining a new quote is not necessarily valid notification.

Awareness of a possible circumstance can be another relevant date, even before a formal demand. It is not automatically the same as a defined claim.

Also record start and expiry dates and any applicable reporting window. Check exact dates and times in the documents; do not assume a standard midnight boundary or grace period.

The fictional examples below show which terms to investigate. They do not establish liability, coverage, compliance or which insurer owes payment.

Example 1: work and loss before a later claim

Assume two fictional consecutive policy periods, calendar years 2027 and 2028, with no gap. Assume the February allegation meets the policy’s claim definition and the March notice uses the required route. Exact start and expiry times still need checking.

Date	Fictional event	Question to investigate
March 2027	Services performed.	Are those services within the accepted scope and any previous-work provisions?
July 2027	Alleged loss occurs.	Is this the event the hypothetical occurrence clause actually uses?
February 2028	Written allegation received.	Does it meet the claim definition, and when was it first made?
March 2028	Insurer notified.	Does it meet the reporting deadline? Reporting within the policy year alone does not establish compliance.

Questions under claims-made wording: Inspect the 2028 trigger, reporting requirements, cover for previous work and rules about known claims or problems.

Questions under occurrence-based wording: If the clause expressly uses the July 2027 loss, inspect the 2027 terms. Do not assume that loss date is the trigger under every occurrence clause.

Example 2: a concern notified before expiry

This separate fictional sequence concerns a possible problem before a later demand. The dates are teaching dates, not reporting deadlines or advice to wait before notifying.

Date	Fictional event
10 December 2027	A concern is identified.
12 December 2027	Notice is sent through the stated route.
31 December 2027	The illustrative policy expires.
15 February 2028	A later formal demand is received.

A clause may treat a later qualifying claim as connected to an earlier notification. This is sometimes called a deeming provision. Check:

• Does the concern meet the policy’s circumstance definition or threshold?
• Was notice sent to the required recipient with the required information and timing?
• Does a later-claim provision apply, and does the later allegation relate to the notice as the wording requires?

An acknowledgement confirms receipt; it does not necessarily confirm that the notification meets every policy requirement or that the claim is covered. Sending notice alone does not establish receipt.

If a later demand arrives, report or update as required and quote the earlier reference. Do not assume the earlier notice completes every later reporting duty.

It means reporting a potential problem that meets the policy’s definition or threshold for circumstances that could lead to a claim. A concern, complaint and defined claim are not automatically interchangeable.

For an actual concern, follow the applicable provisions and promptly use the claims contact in your policy documents. Do not wait for proceedings, a settled loss figure or a new quote to check reporting requirements. The business insurance claims guide helps you prepare.

Find and check:

• The circumstance definition or threshold.
• The required recipient and reporting method.
• The deadline and required information.
• Any provision for later claims linked to the notification.

Report through the contact specified in your policy; Clearcut does not receive policy notifications.

If more than one policy or section may be relevant, ask your broker or the relevant insurers promptly about the reporting position. Do not delay required notices while trying to decide which policy should respond.

Late notice does not have a single universal consequence. The wording and circumstances need appropriate review; this guide cannot determine whether a particular notification preserves cover.

Check how switching affects cover for previous work and known problems. Matching dates or headline limits alone do not establish equivalent protection.

Compare:

• insured business and services;
• relevant start, expiry and retroactive dates;
• previous claims and known problems;
• reporting terms and later-claim provisions;
• changed exclusions and endorsements;
• limits and conditions.

For example, a concern identified before renewal may relate to work performed years earlier. Check the existing policy’s reporting requirements and exact boundary times before it ends.

Separately, check what information the new insurer requires. Disclosure when arranging replacement cover does not necessarily notify a matter under the existing policy. A new policy does not automatically cover a problem you already know about.

A requested amendment or quotation is not confirmation that cover or an extension is in force. Resolve replacement and continuity questions before deciding to cancel existing insurance. Use the renewal guide for the wider renewal checks.

Stopping work or closing a business

Later allegations about previous services can remain relevant after work stops. Check the trigger and continuity position before stopping insurance, using the retroactive dates and run-off guide and the responsible provider.

Run-off cover addresses later claims concerning previous work, subject to its terms. An extended reporting provision allows reporting under specified conditions beyond an ordinary reporting window; it is not automatically ongoing cover for new work. Check each separately. This guide prescribes no universal run-off duration.

Ask for the actual schedule, full wording and endorsements for the policy or quote. Endorsements change the terms. Certificates, marketing pages and sample wordings do not establish which terms apply to your arrangement.

Keep this record with your policy documents.

Check	Record or question
Policy identity	Insurer, product, reference, insured business and section.
Start/expiry dates	Exact dates and times, plus any reporting window.
Trigger	The clause setting the relevant event and timing conditions.
Definitions	Claim, circumstance, occurrence, injury, damage or loss, as relevant.
Previous work	Services insured, retroactive date and earlier claims or known problems.
Claim date and reporting date	When the defined claim was made and when notice reached the required recipient.
Notification requirements	Recipient, method, deadline and required information.
Notification evidence	Notice copy, sending/receipt evidence and reference, where available.
Later claims	Conditions linking later claims to earlier notices.
Amendments	Schedule or endorsements changing these terms.
Other restrictions	Separate cover, exclusion, condition and limit checks.
Clarification	Clause reference, question, written answer and updated documents needed.

If a summary is silent, record “not stated; ask”; silence establishes neither inclusion nor exclusion. Record the question, written answer and any updated document still needed. Ask the provider which terms apply if documents appear inconsistent.

Keep the original demand or allegation and the notification record with their dates and times. Evidence that a notice was sent is not automatically proof that it reached the required recipient or met the terms.

You could ask:

For this policy and wording version, what trigger applies to [section]? What reporting requirements apply? How is previous work treated? Can a later claim be linked to an earlier circumstance notification, and on what conditions?

Asking a general question does not replace reporting an actual problem through the required process. Use the appropriate provider channel for sensitive information; do not send confidential client or claim documents to Clearcut.

Use the linked renewal and run-off guides for continuity and previous-work questions. For broader terms, the quote-comparison guide brings together timing, limits and excesses and exclusions.