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ComplianceStandard / Universal

Occurrence Form Required

What this clause says

General Liability and Products Liability shall be written on an occurrence form, not a claims-made form.

What this means in plain English

Your liability policy needs to cover claims based on when the incident happened, not when the claim is reported.

What it means for a CDMO program

Most CGL is occurrence-form by default. Where this matters: pollution, professional liability, and cyber are typically claims-made. If the MSA requires occurrence form for those, you have a real problem because most carriers will not write them on occurrence form. Push back on the language for non-CGL coverages.

How this evaluates

The Decoder applies these rules in order; the first match wins.

  • cgl › form equals occurrence → Compliant: CGL on occurrence form.
  • cgl › form equals claims-made → Gap: CGL on claims-made form does not satisfy occurrence requirement.

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Questions about compliance

Occurrence Form Required — common questions

What is the difference between occurrence and claims-made?

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Occurrence forms cover claims arising from incidents that happened during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is filed. Claims-made forms only cover claims FILED during the policy period (with retroactive coverage triggers). For products liability with long-tail risk, occurrence is materially better.

Why do sponsors require occurrence?

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Pharma and medical device products can produce claims years or decades after manufacture (think latent defect, cumulative exposure). Occurrence ensures the policy you had at time of manufacture responds — you do not need to maintain claims-made tail forever.

Are pharma carriers willing to write occurrence form?

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Yes for primary CGL and products. Some umbrellas and excess layers are written claims-made — verify the form on each layer; mixing forms in a tower creates gaps.