Liability

Why choose Howden?

• By choosing a specialized broker in your industry who takes the time to understand your business, you can benefit from more comprehensive coverage at a highly competitive price. • Howden offers tailor-made solutions designed specifically for your needs, ensuring your claims are handled under the best market conditions.
• Howden provides centralized risk management, including internationally, through the integrated international network of the Howden Group.
• Our experienced team is renowned in the market not only for placing your risks but also for managing your claims, with an average experience of over 20 years.
• We are responsive and anticipate your needs by employing innovative approaches when necessary, such as creating dedicated products for specific sectors like renewable energies.

What is Liability Insurance?

Liability insurance adheres to the principle of compensating for damages caused to others, regardless of their nature or severity.

In the course of their activities, any company can have its liability called into question when unintentional harm is inflicted on third parties. This could involve employees, visitors, clients within contractual relationships, or consumers affected by products designed, manufactured, or distributed by the company. These damages can be physical, material, moral, or intangible in nature, leading to a claim from the victim seeking compensation, either through an amicable settlement or a legal procedure.

Why is it important?

• Protecting the company's assets: In some cases, heavy penalties can lead to the closure of the business.
• Legal obligations: The law may sometimes require liability insurance, especially for regulated professions.
• Contractual requirements: Clients or co-contractors often demand liability insurance with specific coverage as a prerequisite for obtaining a contract or supplier validation.
• Legal support and coverage of defense costs: Beyond legal support, we work with an attorney to manage the dispute.

What does it cover?

• General Liability Insurance: This is the insurance that combines Operational/Pre-Delivery Liability and Product/Post-Delivery/Post-Service Liability.

• Operational/Pre-Delivery Liability: These are the damages that a company can cause to employees and visitors during its daily operations. This coverage also includes claims for employer's gross negligence in the event of a workplace accident or occupational disease, damages to property entrusted to the insured for service provision, and accidental environmental damage under certain conditions.

• Product/Post-Delivery Liability: These are damages attributable to the company's liability that occur after it has delivered its products/services to its co-contractor. It can result from hidden defects, manufacturing defects, improper packaging, or failure to follow instructions.

• Professional Liability Insurance: These are damages attributable to the liability incurred by the company due to its intellectual services, such as consulting, studies, design, and more.

• Defense and Expertise Costs: Regardless of the nature of liability, the insurance covers the costs of investigation, instruction, expertise, attorney fees, trials, and arbitration incurred by the insured to defend against a claim.

  Types of Damages:

• All types of damages are eligible for coverage: bodily, material, consequential immaterial, and non-consequential immaterial.

  Additional Extensions Granted:

  In exceptional cases, liability coverage can be extended to cover pecuniary losses suffered by the insured themselves (rather than third parties), such as:

• Costs of recall or withdrawal incurred by the insured: If a delivered product poses a danger to the end consumer, the insurance can cover the costs of recalling or withdrawing these products.
• Costs of removal and replacement incurred by the insured: If the product installed by the insured is part of a system and is found to be defective, the insurance can cover the costs of removing and reinstalling the product.
• Prevention costs: Expenses incurred by the insured to prevent the occurrence of covered damage or to limit its worsening.
• Defense costs in case of criminal proceedings: When the company's criminal liability is at stake, the policy can cover the attorney fees incurred by the insured.
• Recovery costs: Under certain conditions, the policy can cover attorney fees incurred by the insured to take action against someone who has caused them harm.
• Environmental liability and ecological damage include administrative liability incurred by the insured under European Directive 2004/35/CE and civil liability for ecological damage.

All the coverage subscribed to and the applicable deductibles can be found in the table of coverage listed in the specific conditions.

What does it not cover?

Liability insurance coverage is typically expressed as "all risks except," which means that anything not excluded is covered. What is not covered by liability insurance includes:

• Undeclared activities and subsidiaries that are not mentioned in the Specific Conditions.
• Professions subject to specific regulatory provisions regarding insurance.
• Activities/risks subject to mandatory insurance.
• Contractual commitments beyond common law.
• War, riots, popular uprisings, acts of terrorism, terrorist attacks, and nuclear damage.
• Fines, penalties, punitive or exemplary damages imposed on the insured.
• The personal liability of subcontractors.
• Costs incurred by the insured to replace their product or redo their service.
• Damages resulting from electromagnetic fields and genetically modified organisms' use or dissemination.
• Damages caused by certain substances such as tobacco, asbestos, lead, formaldehyde, and PFAS.
• Claims that do not correspond to a liability debt (such as unjustified contract termination, or convictions for obligations to perform).

It should be noted that this list is not exhaustive, and specific exclusions related to the insured's business activities may exist.

Who do we work with?

• Diverse Industries, All Sizes: We cater to various sectors, from agri-food and hospitality to logistics, agriculture, education, retail, media, and even cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence and IoT.

• Scalable Solutions: Our teams and methods are built to support businesses of all sizes, whether you're a local startup or a global Fortune 500 company, with one location or a network of them.

Contact

Florence Bidard, Liabilities Manager