Companies Rely On U.S. D&O Policies for Global Coverage

Now available: 
2007 Directors and Officers Liability Survey of Insurance Purchasing and Claims Trends.

Towers Perrin is now distributing its annual report on trends in directors and officers (D&O) liability. The report, based on information from a record 2,927 participants, is the 30th in a series of studies on trends in purchases of D&O liability insurance, along with related claim data. The study is considered the most in-depth of its type.

Not surprisingly, survey participants reported continued softness in the market, but the survey did produce some very interesting results:

• Global D&O Coverage: Only 3% of survey participants with international operations have purchased separate D&O liability insurance policies for other individual countries. This is significant because U.S. D&O insurance policies providing worldwide coverage may not provide the global protections some organizations believe they have purchased. We expect that more organizations will be evaluating how to structure their programs to address local insurance regulations, the increased claim activity outside the U.S. and changing corporate laws in many countries that increase their D&O liability exposure.
• IDL Coverage: Although very few organizations have actually purchased an independent director liability (IDL) insurance policy to provide exclusive coverage for only their independent directors, 30% of private companies and 21% of public firms indicated they were evaluating this type of coverage.
• Fiduciary Liability: More than a third (37%) of survey participants reported purchasing a fiduciary liability insurance policy. Roughly half bought shared limits with their D&O insurance policy, while the other half bought a stand-alone policy.

More information on these topics can be found by registering to receive the full D&O survey report and press release or by contacting:

Michael F. Turk
Senior Consultant
(203) 351-5193
michael.f.turk@towersperrin.com