When a series of injuries stems from related conduct, courts must decide whether they constitute one occurrence or many. The answer sets how many per-occurrence limits are available and how many deductibles or retentions the insured must fund.
Most jurisdictions apply the cause test, asking whether there was one proximate cause or several. A minority use the effect test, counting each injury or claimant separately.
Alternative Names:
Occurrence Counting, One Occurrence or Many
Why it Matters?
Counting drives available limits in both directions. An insured facing multiple claimants generally wants many occurrences to access multiple per-occurrence limits, but each occurrence carries its own retention, so with a large SIR the calculus reverses. In products, abuse, and continuous exposure claims, this single determination frequently decides whether the tower is adequate.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Is each injured claimant a separate occurrence?
Does the insured always want more occurrences?
