Beazley expands D&O cover

Beazley has launched three new directors’ and officers’ (D&O) policy wordings to cover the growing threat of regulatory investigations and inquiries.

D&O cover has evolved from its initial focus on shareholder action, it said.

The new policies cover investigations and inquiries as soon as directors and officers are targeted by regulators, and lets them choose when to report an inquiry to underwriters without the risk of being penalised for late reporting.

One provides additional cover after the main cover limits have been reached and can be used for any directors not included on the main policy.

Another covers overseas areas where the main policy is not licenced to write business and so will not pay claims.

Beazley’s head of the global management liability team Neal Wilkinson said: “As the risks affecting directors and officers have grown, some D&O wordings have become increasingly convoluted and hard to interpret.

“At Beazley we have always sought to provide clear, unambiguous protection, while expanding cover to reflect the new and emerging perils that our clients confront. We believe we have achieved both these goals with our new policy wordings.”