“Claims made” and “Claims occurring.” What’s the difference?

Different insurers have different terms. The important thing is to ensure the continuation of cover – which takes good planning, something that a good broker will never overlook.

For the dental profession, our panel of insurers can offer both "Claims made" and "Claims occurring" policies in order to suit your individual needs - so what's the difference between the two?

Claims made

A “Claims made” insurance policy will consider any claim brought against you during the policy period. This is regardless of when the incident or alleged breach of duty actually occurred. Your work is covered by your current insurer as far back as the start of your policy, or the retroactive date if your policy has one, to cover previously insured policy years.

A claims made policy could pay out in relation to claims made after the end of the policy period but only if a notification of a circumstance was made during the policy period.

Claims occurring

A “Claims occurring” insurance policy will only consider claims that arise out of loss that happened during the specified policy period.

If the incident happened years ago, the insurer at the time would be expected to take responsibility for paying the claim, even if you are insured by another Insurer at the time of discovery.  

What to do next

Make sure Howden has access to your full insurance history. Your Howden broker will look through your past insurance history to make sure there is continuity of cover and there are no gaps between historic insurance policies. Howden can identify any grey areas and confusion as to which insurer is covering which time period and will work with you to make sure your current insurer is ready to protect you in the event of a claim being notified.