Directors' and Officers' insurance (D&O)
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.
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).
What does good D&O insurance look like?
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.
- Entity cover for employment practices liability claims
- Official investigations
- Crisis management
- Entity cover for securities claims (for listed companies)
- Retired directors
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.
Howden's Special Situations team:
Howden’s Special Situations team is made up of experts across the business who have come together to provide a complete offering to clients needing distressed risk solutions.
We are both sector and product agnostic. We draw on experience from legal, accounting, banking and insurance backgrounds and combine that with our broad market access and traditional product expertise. This allows us to partner a boutique advisory approach with the leverage of a global insurance group, placing over $14.5bn in premium annually.

Meet the team

Kurt
Kurt Rothmann

Kurt Rothmann
Executive Director
Kurt joined Howden in November 2020 after spending 8 years at JLT. He has worked with many large and complex multinational clients providing strategic advice, programme design and service delivery. Kurt has 27 years of insurance industry experience, including 7 years in Johannesburg before moving to London in 1999. At both JLT (and Aon before that) he headed up the management liability team. Prior to his career in insurance, he studied law at the University of Cape Town, graduating with a BA LLB. After being admitted to practice as a solicitor in South Africa, he moved to work in-house with one of the then largest South African insurance intermediaries, Glenrand MIB.

Lianne
Lianne Gras

Lianne Gras
Executive Director
Lianne has spent most of her career at Howden and has over 20 years’ experience placing International bespoke risks into the London and global insurance markets. Although experienced across all classes of financial lines she brings particular expertise in delivering highly complex and tailored solutions within the Directors and Officers class. She works with multinational organisations and large government institutions navigating rapidly-evolving exposures across highly-regulated sectors. A particular specialism for those organisations with US exposure be that foreign issuers to US exchanges, IPO’s or reverse merger / despac transactions.

Adam
Adam Swinburne

Adam Swinburne
Divisional Director
With over 26 years' worth of experience, Adam specialises in handling and placing Directors’ and Officers’ Liability, Crime, Financial Institutions Professional Indemnity and Investment Management Insurance in the UK, EEA and Australia. Adam helps a range of of large corporate and SME clients in sectors such as accountants, solicitors, financial advisers, property valuers, property management, investment platforms and investment managers.

Michelle
Michelle Allen

Michelle Allen
Divisional Director
Michelle joined Howden in 1999 and has over 22 years’ experience in Financial Lines, specialising in Directors’ and Officers’ Liability policies. She has extensive experience with both international and UK clients working on large and complex placement structures. Michelle’s role includes responsibility for client service within the International division of FLG overseeing a team of 15+ Account Executives. She also works with FLG’s Legal & Technical team on the drafting of Howden’s flagship D&O products, provides technical resource both internally and to clients and contributes regularly to FLG’s Thought Leadership output.

D&O market outlook
What's in store for the Directors' & Officers' Liability Insurance market this year? Read our 2023 report, 'Navigating global headwinds'.