Fund D&O Insurance portal

A D&O policy is designed to provide protection to individuals for damages and defence costs arising from claims against them for (alleged) wrongful acts committed and for losses arising from regulatory investigations.

All past, present and future directors, officers, partners and individuals in equivalent positions including members of advisory boards or committees or remuneration, audit, risk or similar committees.

No, any new Directors are automatically covered under the policy.

Yes, so long as the Director is sitting on the Board of an outside entity at the behest of the Company (Policyholder) then they will be covered under the policy.

Yes, we continue to provide cover for all past directors as long as there is a valid current policy in place, unlike some other policies which restrict cover for Retired Directors to a specific period. We also provide an unlimited reporting period at no additional premium for directors who have retired during the policy period if the D&O policy is not renewed and no other cover is in place; provided such retirement is not as a result of the winding up or takeover of the Company.

Without Company Liability (aka Entity Cover) the policy will only provide cover for D&O’s. Company Liability will provide cover for damages and legal costs arising out of claims made against the Company itself, and certain investigation processes causing a Company to incur legal costs.  In essence, the Company Liability cover is there to help offer some protection to the company's assets and financial stability. For companies that are publicly listed, there is also an extension that will provide cover for claims in relation to the securities of the company.

No, there is no excess / deductible that needs to be paid by the Directors or the Company (if they are reimbursing Directors) in the event of a claim. If you purchase the additional Company Liability cover, then there is a small deductible of £25,000 paid by the Company.

We strongly recommend run-off cover is purchased in these scenarios. This is pre-agreed within our policy wording providing 72 months of cover at a cost of only 150% of the current policy premium. Run-off will provide 72 months cover for Directors (which is generally the statutory time limitation period for civil claims to be brought) for claims made at any time during those 72 months, where they arise from wrongful acts (including alleged acts) committed prior to the date of liquidators being appointed.  

Yes; however, unlike other policies, we do not differentiate between Non-Executive and Executive Directors. We provide all Directors with an additional £1,000,000 limit if the original policy limit has been exhausted. This applies to claims unrelated to those eroding the original limit and the total of all additional limits must not exceed the aggregate limit of liability of the policy.

We have complete confidence in the coverage provide within our Fund D&O wording. However, in the unlikely event that our policy wording is not broader than your current policy, we have a Difference in Conditions clause within our wording to give you peace of mind. This means that if broader cover would have been available under your previous policy, then our policy shall be automatically amended to provide cover on the more favourable terms.

Yes, investigation costs (i.e. the costs of lawyers in responding to or appearing at an investigation) incurred by or on behalf of Insured Persons are covered under the policy. We have a broad definition of investigations which also covers internal investigations following a self-report for example.

We have minimised the amount of exclusions in our policy wording and only have four market standard exclusions. The policy will not provide cover for prior claims, criminal/fraudulent conduct (where that conduct is proven by final court ruling), bodily injury & property damage and anything that would expose insurers to any breach of sanction laws. 

Absolutely. On our Fund D&O Portal we have used a Lloyd’s of London lead insurer, which is supported by two additional Lloyd’s of London insurers and one Company Insurer. The insurers are Newline Lloyd’s, Allied World Lloyd’s, CV Starr Lloyd’s and Sompo. The underwriters within those organisations are all Financial Institutions (FI) specialists and only underwrite FI risks, so you know you are dealing with insurers who understand your business and risk.

The D&O policy is designed to protect the liabilities directors’ face as part of their duties. If this liability happens to be related to a cyber event, then the policy would act no differently than any other form of insured liability and provide the director with full coverage under the policy for defending any allegation or investigation by an official body, damages or settlements.

The D&O policy would not be there to cover company systems or data. For example, the D&O policy would not cover costs such as data breach communications to effected parties, crisis management, cyber forensic, ransom payment or financial losses caused as a result of the breach/hack

Unfortunately, there is no simple mathematical equation that will in choose the correct limit. There is no standardised approached and it does come down to personal preference and the Directors’ attitude towards risk. That being said, we place over 400 Fund policies and so have access to a large portfolio of data.

When you request a quote from us, we perform a peer group review and obtain limit options based on those findings. We are also able to provide you with examples from our data so that you can see where your limit is sitting amongst your peers.

You should reach out to your broker as soon as possible so that we can notify insurers, as it is vital that we involve insurers early in the process.  That includes where there is a written demand for damages or other relief, or any circumstances are discovered that could give rise to a claim.  It does not mean only claims issued at Court. At Howden, our in-house Legal, Technical & Claims team sit alongside the Asset Management team and is at the heart of our offering. Our claims specialists will proactively and strategically manage your claims, ensuring you understand your coverage and achieve the best outcome possible.  That will include advising on the appointment of lawyers and the consent needed from insurers for settlement of any claims.