What is a Triggering Event?

A triggering event is a tangible or intangible barrier or occurrence which, once breached or met, causes another event to occur. Triggering events include job loss, retirement, or death and are typical for many types of contracts. These triggers help to prevent, or ensure, that in the case of a catastrophic change, the terms of an original contract may also change. 

Life insurance policies may include a triggering event based on the insured age. Also, many employers require employees to reach a qualifying period of employment as a triggering event for eligibility to specific company benefits. In the investment sphere, stops are a triggering event which the investor may initiate to limit their downside risk. 

Triggering Events in Insurance

Insurance companies will include triggers, called coverage triggers, in the policies they underwrite. In the case of property or casualty coverage, it will specify the type of event which must take place for liability protection to apply. Insurers use triggering event to limit their risk exposure. 

  • Some typical triggering events include:
  • Attainment of retirement age, as defined under the plan
  • Termination of employment
  • A participant becomes disabled, as described under the plan
  • The death of the participant

In some universal life insurance policies, in-service withdrawals may are allowed from the cash portion of the policy within the contract. These withdrawals allow for tax and penalty free distributions before an age-based triggering event.

Workers Compensation is another insurance which requires a triggering event to happen before it is effective. As an example, if an individual has an accident while at work, that event would "trigger" disability payouts from insurance. 

Real World Example

It is common for banks to issue debt at a given interest rate on specific terms. For example, when writing a loan, one of a bank's requirements could be that the borrowing party does not incur any additional debt for the duration of the loan. If the borrower should incur more debt, the contract's triggering event, or clause, will kick in. The bank may then take necessary actions to protect themselves which may include foreclosure of property secured through the loan or increasing the original rate of interest charged.