D&O Liability Insurance

Reed Smith Insurance Recovery partners John Shugrue, John Ellison, Amber Finch, Richard Lewis, and Matthew Weaver offer discussion and analysis on key issues relevant to businesses seeking, or evaluating whether to seek, coverage for COVID-19 losses. This webinar is available on demand and you can register here.

Here’s a brief summary of the topics addressed in the webinar:

  • Business interruption coverage and the physical loss/damage trigger (presented by Richard Lewis)

Business interruption insurance provides coverage when physical loss or damage adversely impacts a business, causing it loss.  This insurance covers lost profit and continuing expenses for the period needed to repair or replace damaged property and is designed to do for the business “what the business would have done had there been no loss or damage to property.”  For COVID-19, the key issue for business interruption coverage is: Can the known or suspected presence of a virus cause “physical loss or damage” to property?  For most businesses, it should generally be possible to make the requisite showing of physical loss or damage.

  • Contamination, virus, and microorganism exclusions (presented by John Ellison)

 In commentary, insurance companies have raised a variety of exclusions as potentially barring coverage for COVID-19 related losses.  Some of the exclusions raised include exclusions for virus, bacteria, contaminants, mold, and pollution.  Although there is significant diversity in exclusion wording across property policies, many policies contain standard virus exclusion language promulgated by the Insurance Services Office (ISO).  The ISO made demonstrably false statements to state regulators in seeking approval for this language.  Accordingly, virus exclusions may be vulnerable to challenge.  Additional information about insurers’ misrepresentations concerning virus exclusions is discussed in this article. Additionally, there are available challenges to the other forms of exclusion that insurers are raising that present viable responses to obtaining coverage even when they are asserted by your insurance company.

  • D&O coverage for shareholder claims (presented by John Shugrue)

Directors and officers liability insurance (D&O) coverage typically applies to liability claims made against individual directors for breach of fiduciary duty and to claims made against the business for securities law violations.  Potential claims implicating D&O coverage related to COVID-19 include shareholder claims for alleged failures to plan for, or respond to, the pandemic.Continue Reading Join us for an on-demand webinar “What policyholders really need to know about insurance for COVID-19”

The District Court of Massachusetts’ January 6, 2015 opinion in Biochemics, Inc. v. Axis Reinsurance Co., 2015 WL 71493 (D. Mass. Jan. 6, 2015), reaffirms the importance of providing timely notice of all D&O liability claims – including subpoenas. In Biochemics, the policyholder sought coverage from its primary D&O liability insurer, Axis, for defense costs it incurred in an SEC enforcement action commenced during the AXIS policy period. Judge Rya Zobel held that Biochemics had no coverage for the SEC enforcement action because it related back to two deposition subpoenas that the SEC served on Biochemics before the AXIS policy incepted. Because those deposition subpoenas indicated on their face that the SEC had commenced a formal investigation against Biochemics, each subpoena was a “Claim” that should have been reported to Biochemics’ prior D&O carrier. Because the Claim was “first made” before the AXIS policy period, Judge Zobel granted AXIS’ motion for summary judgment and found that AXIS owed Biochemics no coverage under its policy.
Continue Reading Lessons Learned: Report All Potential D&O Liability Insurance Claims Without Delay