November 2005 Dec Page

Question of the Month

Under a claims-made policy, coverage is usually triggered when a claim is first made against the insured during the policy's effective dates. In disputes over when a claim was first made, parties sometimes take differing views of what the word “claim” means. This is particularly likely to happen if the underlying dispute developed gradually, escalating through a series of contacts and confrontations before emerging as a full-blown lawsuit. At what point in that sequence of events was an actual claim, in accordance with the meaning in the insurance policy, first made? And, just what constitutes a claim?

This article offers guidelines as to what a claim is and is not when it comes to insurance policies, and suggestions on how different parties can handle a claim. The article was written by Mr. Thomas M. Bower, an attorney in New York . See What Is a Claim?.

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