Directors and Officers Liability insurance
Directors and Officers Liability insurance provides cover to companies and their directors, officers and senior managers for claims arising from their decisions and actions taken whilst managing their business. Liability can be personal and a director’s house and savings may be at risk.
The exposure of directors, officers and senior managers has grown over the last decade. This is due partly to the more litigious environment and also to the arrival of the Companies Act 2006, which codified a framework of directors’ duties in English law for the first time.
D&O policies can also extend to cover the cost of government department or regulator investigations and even the cost of fighting criminal investigations (up until the point that guilt is proven).
At MUM we offer cover on a very wide basis, including extensions for:
- Legal representation at government or regulatory investigations
- Defending Extradition Proceedings
- Defence costs for Pollution claims
- Defence costs against Corporate Manslaughter allegations
- Additional Limit of Liability for Non-Executive Directors or Supervisory Board Members
- Worldwide cover available
Below are examples of typical things that could go wrong for a director, officer or senior manager, all of which would normally be covered by a MUM policy:
- Directors were accused of trading whilst insolvent and also failure to maintain their accounts in a satisfactory manner to enable receivers to carry out their duties. As a result, many creditors were left unpaid. They faced disqualification proceedings for Costs were incurred in defending the directors named in the proceedings which amount to tens of thousands of pounds.
- Directors and senior managers of a haulage firm allowed a member of their staff to drive a company vehicle which was not roadworthy. An accident occurred killing a third party which resulted in a Health & Safety Executive prosecution for corporate manslaughter.
