In a claims-made professional liability policy, the policy must be in effect at which times?

• A. Only at the time of claim
• B. Only when services were rendered
• C. At both the time the claim is made and when services were rendered
• D. At the time of contract signing

Answer: (C)

In a claims-made professional liability policy, coverage is triggered when a claim is made, but only if the policy was in force at that moment and the underlying negligent act (the services) occurred after the policy’s retroactive date. This means the protection is tied to two moments: when the claim is filed and when the event giving rise to the claim happened. If the policy isn’t active at either time, there’s no coverage under that policy (unless tail or prior-acts coverage extends it). So the best answer is that the policy must be in effect both when the claim is made and when the services were rendered.