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🎯 '''Coverage trigger''' is the event or circumstance that activates an [[Definition:Insurance policy | insurance policy's]] obligation to respond to a [[Definition:Claim | claim]]. In the insurance industry, identifying which policy period's coverage applies to a given loss is one of the most consequential—and contested—aspects of claims handling. The trigger determines not just whether coverage exists, but which policy or policies among potentially many consecutive years of coverage must pay.

⚙️ Four principal trigger theories have developed through decades of case law. The ''exposure trigger'' ties coverage to the policy in effect when the [[Definition:Policyholder | insured]] was first exposed to the harmful condition. The ''manifestation trigger'' looks to when the injury or damage became apparent. The ''injury-in-fact trigger'' pegs coverage to the policy period during which actual harm occurred, regardless of when it was discovered. Finally, the ''continuous trigger''—also called the ''triple trigger''—activates every policy in effect from initial exposure through manifestation, spreading the loss across multiple policy years. Which theory a court applies depends on the jurisdiction and the nature of the loss; [[Definition:Asbestos claim | asbestos]] and [[Definition:Environmental liability insurance | environmental]] claims, for example, have generated enormous bodies of [[Definition:Coverage trigger litigation | trigger litigation]] because harm unfolds over decades.

📌 Getting the trigger right has direct financial consequences for [[Definition:Insurance carrier | carriers]], [[Definition:Reinsurer | reinsurers]], and policyholders alike. A continuous trigger can spread a massive loss across many policy years, potentially pulling in numerous successive insurers and their [[Definition:Reinsurance | reinsurance]] towers. A manifestation trigger, by contrast, may concentrate the entire loss in a single year, potentially breaching the [[Definition:Limit of liability | policy limit]] and leaving the insured exposed. [[Definition:Underwriter | Underwriters]] drafting modern policies—particularly in [[Definition:Professional liability insurance | professional liability]] and [[Definition:Cyber insurance | cyber lines]]—often use claims-made language specifically to sidestep trigger ambiguity, tying coverage to the date the claim is first reported rather than when the underlying act occurred.

'''Related concepts'''
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Definition:Coverage trigger litigation]]
* [[Definition:Claims-made policy]]
* [[Definition:Occurrence-based policy]]
* [[Definition:Long-tail liability]]
* [[Definition:Allocation]]
* [[Definition:Coverage opinion]]
{{Div col end}}

Definition:Coverage trigger - Revision history

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