If a CGL has an Occurrence form dated 1-1-03 and a Claims-Made form dated 1-1-04, and an injury occurs on 8-1-03 and is filed in 2005, which policy covers?

• A. 1-1-03 policy
• B. 1-1-04 policy
• C. No coverage
• D. 1-1-05 policy

Answer: (A)

In an occurrence-form CGL policy, the trigger is the date of the injury or incident. The policy that is in effect at the time the injury happens is the one that covers the claim, regardless of when the claim is filed later. Here, the injury occurred on 8-1-03, while the 1-1-03 occurrence policy was in force, so that policy provides coverage for the incident even though the lawsuit was filed in 2005.

A claims-made form works differently: it covers claims that are made during the period the policy is in effect. The 1-1-04 policy would only cover claims that are made during its policy period, and since the injury happened before it started and the claim was filed after, it wouldn’t be covered by that policy. The 1-1-05 policy isn’t relevant because it wasn’t in effect at the time of the injury.

So the policy that covers is the 1-1-03 occurrence policy.