Conceptin Commercial general liability
Drill8 items
Claims-made vs occurrence: which policy pays?
An occurrence policy pays for injury or damage that happens while it is in force, whenever the claim arrives. A claims-made policy pays for a claim first made while it is in force, provided the injury happened on or after the retroactive date. The CGL prints the first as CG 00 01 and the second as CG 00 02.
Two triggers, two questions
Both CGL forms are 04 13 editions. Coverage A, bodily injury and property damage, is where the trigger decides the answer; Coverage B runs on an offense, a separate trap handled on the commercial general liability page. The vocabulary of occurrence and legal liability starts in liability insurance basics.
For an occurrence item, ask one thing: was the policy in force when the injury happened? The claim date is irrelevant. For a claims-made item, ask two: was the claim first made during the policy period or an extended reporting period, and did the injury happen on or after the retroactive date? Both answers must be yes.
Outside the CGL, claims-made is the usual trigger for professional liability, directors and officers, and employment practices liability, so the specialty commercial coverages part reuses everything on this page.
One claim on the timeline
The two forms, row by row
| Point | Occurrence | Claims-made |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Injury during the policy period | Claim first made during the policy period |
| Retroactive date | None | Injury must be on or after it |
| Claim made years later | Old policy still answers | Only inside an extended reporting period |
| Extended reporting | Not needed | Basic automatic; supplemental on request |
| Aggregates | Reset each policy year | Reset each policy year; a supplemental period adds one |
| Also used for | The CGL's CG 00 01 | Professional, D&O, EPLI |
The words around claims-made
- Retroactive date
- The earliest date an injury can have happened and still be covered. A retro date shown as "none" means full prior acts.
- Basic extended reporting period
- Automatic and free when a claims-made CGL ends: 60 days for any claim, stretched to 5 years for claims from occurrences reported within 60 days after the policy ends. It does not reinstate the aggregates.
- Supplemental extended reporting period
- Unlimited in time, by endorsement, requested in writing within 60 days after the policy ends, for a premium of up to 200% of the annual premium. It starts when the basic period ends and reinstates the aggregate once.
- What triggers them
- Cancellation or nonrenewal, a move to an occurrence form, or a renewal with a later retroactive date.
- Tail and nose
- "Tail" is the everyday word for an extended reporting period. "Nose", or prior acts coverage, comes from the new insurer: the old retroactive date carried forward.
Put each claim on the timeline
0 of 8 answered · 0 right
Sketch the retroactive date, the policy period and the injury date for each question, then place the claim on the same line.
Notes on each optionCommit to an answer first. The notes under the item then open on every option: what rules it in or out, and the one word that splits the runner-up from the key.
- Item 01
A claims-made CGL runs from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 with a retroactive date of January 1, 2023. Which claim does this policy cover?
- AA November 2022 injury is before the January 1, 2023 retroactive date, so it is excluded even though the claim is timely.
- BA claim made in December 2025 was made before this policy period began.
- CAn injury in June 2027 happens after the policy has ended, so this policy cannot cover it.
- DCorrect: the claim is first made during the 2026 policy period and the June 2024 injury is after the retroactive date.
- Item 02
A claims-made CGL covering 2025 has a retroactive date of January 1, 2023. A claim is first made in 2025 for an injury that occurred in 2022. How does the policy respond?
- ACorrect: a claims-made CGL covers only injury on or after the retroactive date, and a 2022 injury is before the January 1, 2023 retro date.
- BThere is no 60-days-from-injury reporting rule; the retro date alone defeats this claim.
- CA timely claim is not enough; the injury must also fall on or after the retroactive date.
- DThe basic ERP extends reporting time after the policy ends; it does not cover injuries before the retro date.
- Item 03
A claims-made CGL policy is not renewed. Which of the following does the insured receive automatically, at no extra premium?
- ACorrect: the claims-made CGL gives a basic extended reporting period automatically and at no extra premium when the policy is not renewed.
- BThe basic ERP does not reinstate the aggregate; only the paid supplemental ERP adds a separate aggregate.
- CThe supplemental ERP must be requested in writing and costs extra, so it is not automatic.
- DA later retroactive date would cut coverage for past acts, not extend it.
- Item 04
The claims-made CGL of a closing business is not renewed, and the owner wants protection against claims made many years later for past work. What must the owner do?
- ACorrect: unlimited protection requires the supplemental ERP, requested in writing within 60 days after the policy ends, for an extra premium.
- BThe request window is 60 days, not 30.
- COne year is far longer than the 60-day window for requesting the supplemental ERP.
- DThe basic ERP lasts only 60 days (5 years for occurrences reported within 60 days), so it is not unlimited.
- Item 05
A physician retires and cancels her claims-made malpractice policy. Two years later a patient sues over treatment she provided while the policy was in force. For this claim to be covered, she needed to buy:
- AA claims-made policy covers only claims made during the policy period, so a claim two years after cancellation is not automatic.
- BNose coverage is bought from a new claims-made insurer to cover earlier acts, which does not help a retiring physician.
- CA new occurrence policy covers only incidents during its own term, not past treatment.
- DCorrect: an extended reporting period, or tail, lets claims made after the policy ends be covered for acts during the policy.
- Item 06
An architect switches claims-made professional liability insurers. To keep coverage for work done under the old policy, the new policy should:
- ACorrect: carrying the original retroactive date forward keeps coverage for earlier work when claims are made under the new policy.
- BA basic ERP extends reporting time under the old policy only; it does not make the new policy cover past work.
- CAn occurrence policy covers only incidents during its own term, so it would not reach the earlier work.
- DSetting the retro date to the new inception date would exclude all past work, the opposite of what the architect needs.
- Item 07
A business had an occurrence-basis liability policy for 2023 and did not renew it. A customer injured on the premises in 2023 first files a claim in 2026. Which policy responds?
- AAn occurrence policy does not need the claim to come during the policy term, so expiration does not defeat it.
- BThe 2026 policy did not exist when the injury occurred, and the business did not renew anyway.
- CCorrect: an occurrence policy covers injury that occurs during its policy period, whenever the claim is made.
- DA 60-day window is a claims-made extended reporting feature, not part of an occurrence form.
- Item 08
A firm had an occurrence CGL through December 31, 2024, then switched to a claims-made CGL with a retroactive date of January 1, 2025. An injury occurred in October 2024, and the claim is first made in March 2025. Which policy responds?
- ACorrect: the occurrence policy in force in October 2024 covers the injury, whenever the claim is made.
- BThe claims-made policy does not apply because the injury predates its retroactive date, so there is nothing to share.
- CThere is no gap: the old occurrence policy picks up injuries before the switch.
- DThe claims-made policy excludes the claim because the October 2024 injury is before its January 1, 2025 retro date.
Tails, retro dates and limits
Does an occurrence policy ever need a tail?
No. The policy in force on the injury date answers, even if it expired years ago and was never renewed. Tails exist only for claims-made coverage.
Why does a later retroactive date on renewal matter?
Injuries between the old and the new retro date would fall outside the renewed policy, so the CG 00 02 treats that renewal as an event that triggers the extended reporting periods.
Whose limits pay a claim reported in the basic tail?
The expiring policy's, with no fresh aggregate; the basic period does not reinstate it. The supplemental period is the one that adds an aggregate.