Legal Definitions - claims-made policy

A claim-made policy is a type of insurance policy that provides coverage for claims made during a specific period, regardless of when the incident occurred. This means that if a claim is made during the policy period, the policy will cover it, even if the incident happened before the policy was in effect.

For example, if a doctor has a claim-made policy and a patient sues them for malpractice during the policy period, the policy will cover the claim, even if the alleged malpractice occurred before the policy was purchased.

Another example is professional liability insurance for lawyers. If a lawyer has a claim-made policy and a client sues them for legal malpractice during the policy period, the policy will cover the claim, even if the alleged malpractice occurred before the policy was purchased.

Claim-made policies are often used in professional liability insurance, such as medical malpractice insurance, errors and omissions insurance, and directors and officers liability insurance. They are different from occurrence policies, which provide coverage for incidents that occur during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is made.