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Directors and Officers Liability
What is it?
Directors and Officers Liability insurance protects directors and officers as well as senior managerial staff against claims arising from their actions and decisions in their official capacities. This includes damages awarded in civil courts and the potentially substantial cost of defence costs if they face criminal or regulatory charges.
Why do you need it?
As businesses become more regulated eg corporate governance, Health and Safety, etc the scope for suing individual directors in addition to the company increases. In the case of individuals, the consequences can be severe as breaches of statutory regulations can lead to heavy fines and in some extreme situations, imprisonment. In many cases directors accept a career-damaging ban simply because they can not afford the defence costs involved.
Who needs it?
Any director, officer or senior manager of a public, private or government organisations, whatever the size, should buy this cover as claims can arise from a variety of sources, including shareholders, customers, employees, etc. Also directors and officers are particularly vulnerable when going through mergers or acquisitions or if they have US exposures.
Individuals could also be at risk in other business roles such as:
  • non-executive positions - in an advisory as opposed to a managerial capacity
  • shadow directorships - not named as directors though they do exercise control through a director
  • defacto directors - have the same role as a director but are not legally appointed
Why use AIG Australia ?
With over four decades of experience in providing directors and officers liability insurance, and coupled with our financial strength and global capacity, we are one of the leading providers in the Australasian market.
We have developed a number of insurance solutions for directors and officers to give them meaningful protection in their executive roles. These can include shareholder pollution cover, legal fees and expenses for investigations into the company affairs, libel and slander, securities and employment practice claims.
Find out more
AIG Australia has developed a series of product suites - CorporateGuard®, BusinessGuard®, FinancialGuard® and ProfessionGuard® - designed to address the unique risks associated with four key industry segments.
To find out more, click here.
CorporateGuard Advisory PanelTM
BusinessGuard Advisory PanelTM