Directors' and Officers' insurance

D&O Liability insurance

If things go wrong in a business, the senior managers, including directors, officers and partners, are at risk of claims being made against them.

Directors’ and Officers’ (D&O) insurance and Management Liability insurance can help protect these individuals against the resulting financial costs, such as fines and legal fees.

Investigations into directors personally. whistleblowing, and the self-reporting regime could all lead to a director needing the assistance of legal counsel to put forward their case. As these are personal claims, a director’s personal assets could be at risk.

D&O insurance is there to pay for costs relating to mounting a defence, and any damages or settlements relating to the matter. Any allegation made by a third party against a director or officer, no matter how frivolous, needs to be vigorously defended, otherwise, there is a risk of judgement being entered in default of a defence. 

Other areas that give rise to claims include:

• Positions on outside boards 
• Wrongful termination, sexual harassment or discrimination 
• Initial public offerings

Directors and officers can be held liable for their own actions and inactions – and the actions of their co-directors.  Directors’ personal liability for the performance of a company is unlimited. If the shareholders want to sue for mismanagement, they can, and do, quite frequently. 

What does Directors’ and Officers’ insurance cover?

Directors’ and Officers’ (D&O) Liability insurance gives financial protection in the event you are sued personally. D&O protects you against claims made against you or your co-directors within the scope of your everyday business.

It is there to cover you for legal costs as well as any damages. 

D&O insurance covers directors' acts and the cover should extend to those individuals that are subject to regulatory approvals (such as the Senior Managers regime), the Data Protection Officer, General Counsel, Risk Manager and other senior individuals (including employees in managerial capacities).

Notably, D&O is distinct from a Professional Indemnity policy (which may be referred to as “PI”, Errors & Omissions or “E&O”, or Civil Liability), which is designed principally to protect the company from any claims arising out of professional business (for example, poor advice or service to a client).

Everything is focused on the prompt payment of claims

For an insurance broker, the connection between claims and account management is the difference between happy or irate clients, and good outcomes versus bad ones.

We make sure that our legal, technical & claims specialists are involved throughout your insurance cycle.

Our claims advocates and lawyers are fully embedded into the end-to-end client service process, right from the policy design phase. From the outset, they work with the account management team to get your wordings right. They are on hand for technical queries through the policy period. Then they handle any claims that arise – and so carry that knowledge of your business and your wordings throughout the whole process.

Finally, they feed this back in to your account management team at renewal – using what they have learned, to drive the best cover, structure and price. A continual cycle, driving challenge and improvement.

Our legal, technical and claims specialists deal with D&O claims, day-in day-out. They are deeply experienced in handling large, complex and high-profile cases.