A director has personal unlimited liability in certain situations under the Companies Act 2006, and working for a limited company is no protection against these possible liabilities. In situations your company is simply not allowed to pay the costs, as per its Articles of Association indemnity provision. A high proportion of claims arise when companies are in financial trouble and are therefore unable to pay the costs anyway. Even if your company were able to pay, they may not want to!

Directors’ & Officers insurance (D&O) is becoming essential in the UK. In fact it is now being argued that it should be considered a compulsory class of insurance for certain business sectors and most directors and officers now demand to be protected rather than put their own home and personal possessions on the line.

Worldwide today gross written premiums are over $10 billion.

Cover will protect the Directors & Officers from claims pursued by other Directors, Shareholders or investigation by regulatory bodies. The company is covered for claims from for example competitors, regulatory bodies, HSE or even business partners.

This protection can be extended to claims made by employees in relation to employment conditions, such as unfair dismissal, or unfair selection for redundancy or even age discrimination claims.