As you probably know, professional liability insurance is available in two forms – occurrence or claims-made. Although both provide protection, there are major differences between the two.
An occurrence policy provides coverage, regardless of when the claim is reported, for an injury or damage that takes place anytime during the policy period. This provides long-term protection for any covered claim that may arise at any time in the future – up to the limits of the policy in force at the time of the incident that led to the claim.
Under a claims-made policy, coverage is provided for claims made against the policyholder and reported to the insurance company while the policy remains in force and during any applicable extended reporting period.
So as long as the policyholder has maintained continuous coverage, the company underwriting the policy at the time the incident is reported would be responsible for paying any covered claims. Unlike an occurrence policy, this may not be the same company underwriting the policy at the time the incident occurred if the policyholder moved to a new insurer.
PPA 