The 2014 Bridgecorp ruling (regarding competing claims between defence costs and third party claims on a policy) has potential implications for the Australian insurance market – in particular NSW, the ACT and the Northern Territory, where equivalent legislation applies. The ruling may not be confined to Directors & Officers Liability policies: it could prevent the holder of any liability policy from accessing defence costs where the limit of liability is defence costs-inclusive, which is the case for many professional liability policies.
Liberty‘s Umbrella Defence Costs policy is our unique response to this development.
At a glance:
- Single overarching solution to insurance concerns
- Protects one or more classes of liability
- Provides a limit exclusively for defence costs.