Ensure adequate business liability coverage

It’s time to check your insurance policy wordings sufficiently covers your business liability risks.

I am talking D&O, public liability, PI, Cyber…

Remember, every business is just a claim and denial away from a potential catastrophe…

That might seem fear mongering but every day I see uninsured claims and often for needless issues.

Remember your insurance broker is not a lawyer, their duty is more limited. It is YOU who has a final obligation to your employer to make sure coverage is sufficient.

Some general lawyers will review a wording especially an in-house legal counsel and this is obviously beneficial in finding the problem clauses. Keep this up! It is a critical exercise.

But to negotiate improved cover at renewal it is necessary to know what language is commercially available and checking competing market policies is a good start to assess insurer appetite for amendment. Improving cover for the risks that matter in your business is key!

Why don’t you ask your broker for a copy of the policy wordings of competing insurers at least a month out from renewal!

Whether you’re an in-house lawyer or person responsible for negotiation reach out:

• I’m happy to assist you and understanding how to amend cover and where insurer appetite is. This will differ between insurers and depending on your risk profile;

• With end of quarter renewals, and 31 December renewal season coming make sure you have an advantage in knowing which terms and conditions you need to focus on.

After all, you could still be stuck with a clause you’d rather not have, but if you follow this process, you will have knowledge of gaps and issues and tested the market limits for your organisation and finally you still know where to implement other risk management if needed!

And PLEASE please, please! when reviewing your policy check that your insured name in the schedule and policy definitions of insured and insured persons actually covers all of your needs. If you expect contractors to be covered - check the extension. These scope of cover issues are common issue I see in claim denials.

This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Tagged as:

• litigation