What is a coverage trigger?
Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director, Apex Insurance Brokers Limited · Last reviewed 2026-08-05
If you buy professional indemnity (PI) insurance, the single most important thing to understand is not the limit of indemnity — it is the trigger. The trigger decides which policy year has to pay when a client complains. Get it wrong, and you can hold years of continuous cover and still find a claim falls through the gap. This page explains exactly what activates cover under a claims-made policy, and why the dates matter more than most people expect.
The two ways cover can be triggered
Broadly, liability insurance is written on one of two bases. The trigger is the defining difference between them.
| Basis | What triggers cover | Typically used for |
|---|---|---|
| Claims-made | A claim is first made against you during the policy period (or a circumstance is notified in that period). | Professional indemnity, directors & officers, some cyber. |
| Occurrence | The event or injury happens during the policy period, whenever the claim is later made. | Public liability, employers' liability. |
Professional indemnity is almost always claims-made in the UK. That means the policy responding to a claim is the one in force when the claim arrives, not the one that was in force when you did the work. A design error you made three years ago is dealt with by this year's policy, provided the other conditions below are met.
How the claims-made trigger actually works
Under a claims-made wording, cover is activated when both of these are true:
- A claim is first made against you — a client asserts you are at fault, demands compensation, or issues proceedings — during the policy period; and
- You notify the insurer of that claim in line with the policy conditions, usually as soon as reasonably practicable and within the period.
Many PI wordings are more precisely described as claims-made-and-reported: the claim must be both made and reported to the insurer inside the period (or an agreed extension). This is why prompt notification is not administrative box-ticking — late notification can entitle an insurer to decline. If something goes wrong, tell your broker straight away.
The retroactive date: how far back cover reaches
Because a claims-made policy can respond to work done years earlier, insurers control their exposure with a retroactive date. Any act, error or omission that occurred before this date is excluded, even if the claim itself is made during the current period.
For a firm that has held continuous PI cover, the retroactive date is often set to when cover first started (sometimes shown as "none" or "unlimited retroactive cover"). The danger comes when the retroactive date moves forward — for example when switching insurer — because past work can suddenly fall outside cover. Always check the retroactive date on every renewal, and treat any forward movement as a red flag to raise with your broker.
Not sure how your policy is triggered, or what your retroactive date is? We'll read the wording and tell you plainly.
Get a PI quote →Notifying a circumstance: pulling the trigger early
You do not have to wait for a formal claim. Claims-made wordings let you notify a circumstance — a situation you become aware of that might reasonably give rise to a claim later. Once you validly notify a circumstance during the policy period, any claim that eventually flows from it is treated as attaching to that policy year, even if the claim itself arrives after that year has expired.
This is a powerful protection. If you spot a problem near renewal — a client unhappy with your advice, an error you have just identified — notifying it before the period ends locks the current policy in as the one that responds. It is one reason honest, timely disclosure at renewal is in your own interest.
Why continuous cover matters — and run-off
Because the trigger is the arrival of a claim, a claims-made policy only protects you while it is in force. Let cover lapse, and a claim made after the lapse has no policy to respond to — even for work done while you were insured. Two practical consequences follow:
- Keep cover continuous. Gaps between policies create gaps in protection. Renew before expiry and keep the retroactive date intact.
- Consider run-off cover when you stop trading. When you close, merge or retire, claims can still arrive for past work. Run-off cover keeps a claims-made policy alive for a period after you stop, so those later claims still have a trigger to land on.
A worked example
Suppose you complete a piece of consultancy work in March 2023. In June 2026 the client alleges your advice caused them a loss and demands compensation. It is your 2026 policy that responds, because that is when the claim is first made against you — provided your retroactive date is 2023 or earlier and you notify promptly. The 2023 policy that was in force when you did the work is irrelevant to this claim. That is the essence of a claims-made trigger.
Common questions
Is professional indemnity always claims-made?
In the UK it very nearly always is. A handful of specialist wordings differ, so check yours. If your policy talks about claims "first made" during the period and has a retroactive date, it is claims-made.
What happens to a claim if my policy has lapsed?
With no live claims-made policy, there is nothing to trigger — even for work done while you were insured. This is why continuous cover and, on closure, run-off cover matter so much.
Does the trigger date affect which limit of indemnity applies?
Yes. The limit that applies is the one in the policy that responds — the year the claim is made — not the limit you held when the work was done. If you carried, say, £1m then and £2m now, it is the current policy's terms that count.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This guide is general information, not advice on a specific policy or a substitute for your policy wording.