Business insurance
Directors and Officers Insurance
cover for the director personally, because the law makes you liable and limits what your company can do about it
Defence costs, investigation costs and awards for a director, officer or senior manager pursued personally for a wrongful act in managing the company, on a claims-made policy the company buys under section 233 of the Companies Act because section 232 stops it indemnifying you against liability to the company.
- Written on the director, not the company
- Defence costs advanced, on four wordings read
- One limit shared by every insured person
- FCA authorised and regulated
Quick answerDirectors and officers insurance, or D&O, pays the defence costs, investigation costs and any award or settlement when a director, company secretary or senior manager is pursued personally for a wrongful act in running the company. It exists because the Companies Act 2006 makes a company’s attempt to exempt or indemnify a director void, then permits it to buy insurance instead. The policy is written on the person, claims-made, with one limit shared by everyone insured, and clauses that decide what happens when the company is sold or fails. Tell us what the company does, and specialist UK brokers can come back with quotes.
This page is about the director, not the company. Cover for the business itself, its premises, stock, income and liability to the public and staff, sits on our commercial combined insurance, public liability and employers’ liability pages, and cover for the advice a firm gives its clients on our professional indemnity insurance page. What this page covers is the one policy that answers when the person is pursued: why the law makes that happen, what the company is and is not allowed to do about it, and the clauses that decide whether the policy still answers after the company is sold or fails.
The short version
Six Things the Companies Act Does to a D&O Policy
Before any of the detail.
- The company cannot simply indemnify you
- Section 232 of the Companies Act makes any exemption or indemnity for a director’s negligence or breach of duty void, except as sections 233 and 234 permit
- But it can insure you
- Section 233 lets the company buy and maintain insurance against that same liability. That permission is what this policy is
- Claims-made, on all six wordings read
- The claim has to be first made against you during the policy period, whenever the act was
- One limit for everyone
- An aggregate for all claims and all insured persons, with defence and investigation costs inside it, on all six wordings read
- Dishonesty is excluded only once proven
- On all six wordings read the conduct exclusion bites after a final adjudication or a written admission
- Retired directors stay covered
- For six years on one wording read, 72 months on one, 120 months on one, without limit on two, and with no limit stated on one
The basics
What Is Directors and Officers Insurance?
A liability policy on the people who run a company rather than on the company. It pays to defend and, where covered, to settle a claim, investigation or prosecution against a director, officer or senior manager personally for a wrongful act in managing it.
Up to three covers sit within the six UK D&O and management liability wordings read for this page; only the first is on every one. The Companies Act shapes each.
The director, where the company cannot pay
The core cover. Section 232 stops the company indemnifying you, and on insolvency there is nothing to indemnify with. This part pays you directly.
The company, where it is allowed to pay
Section 234 permits a qualifying third party indemnity for some claims. Where the company lawfully reimburses a director, this part, on two wordings read, reimburses the company.
The company itself, on three wordings read
A company legal liability section for claims against the entity, up to £5 million on one including health and safety investigation costs. Employment practices cover is optional or separate on five.
What it is not. It is not professional indemnity, which answers for the advice or design the firm sells to clients. It is not the commercial combined policy, which insures the buildings, stock, income and public liability of the business. And it is not a shield against fines: section 234 forbids the company indemnifying a criminal fine or a regulatory penalty.
How it works
From the Wrongful Act to the Cheque: How a Claims-Made Policy Answers
The act can be years old. What matters is when the claim is first made against you, whether it was notified in the period, and whether the discovery clause still reaches you after the policy ends.
The company buys the policy, because section 233 says it may
Any attempt to exempt or indemnify a director for negligence, default or breach of duty is void under section 232. Section 233 permits insurance instead, and section 234 permits a limited indemnity that cannot reach fines, penalties or a lost defence.
A claim is first made against you during the period
A letter before action, proceedings, a regulator’s investigation, a liquidator’s demand, an HSE interview under caution. On all six wordings read the trigger is the claim being first made in the period, or in a discovery period after it.
Defence costs are paid as you go
Four wordings read advance defence costs before the claim is resolved, one repayable if it turns out not to be covered. Those that advance generally require the insurer’s consent to the lawyers and the spend.
The limit is one pot for everyone
An aggregate for all claims and all insured persons, with defence and investigation costs inside it, on all six wordings read. Three directors defending the same liquidator share one number.
What you are buying
What Does Directors and Officers Insurance Cover?
The cost of being pursued, the cost of being investigated, and what you are ordered or agree to pay.
| What | Where it stands | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Defence costs | The core of the policy | Lawyers, experts and court costs to defend a claim or prosecution; advanced on four wordings read |
| Investigation costs | On all six wordings read | Legal representation at a regulator’s or liquidator’s investigation |
| Awards and settlements | Where insurable | Damages and settlements made with the insurer’s consent; criminal fines and regulatory penalties are outside section 234 |
| Company reimbursement | On two wordings read | Repays the company where it lawfully indemnified a director |
| Company legal liability | On three wordings read | Claims against the company itself, one up to £5 million |
| Employment practices liability | Optional or separate on five | Claims by employees for unfair dismissal, discrimination and the like |
| Retired directors | Run-off after you leave | Six years on one wording read, 72 months on one, 120 months on one, unlimited on two, no limit stated on one |
| Discovery period | After the policy ends | Automatic on three wordings read (90 days on two, 30 on one); optional twelve months at half the premium on four |
The manslaughter carve-back is the one to read. Bodily injury and property damage are excluded on all six wordings read. Four give back the defence costs of a manslaughter or health and safety prosecution against the director, and one gives £100,000 of such costs in excess of other insurance. A director charged under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act finds out which clause they bought.
The boundaries
Where a D&O Claim Is Refused: Conduct, Timing and Who Is Suing
On the six wordings read, a D&O claim fails for one of three reasons: what the director did, when the claim arrived, or who brought it.
Dishonesty and personal profit, once proven
Excluded on all six wordings read, but only after a judgment, final adjudication, final ruling or a written admission. Until then the allegation is defended. One profit exclusion carries no such wording.
Fines and penalties
A criminal fine or a regulatory penalty is what section 234 forbids the company to indemnify, and the wordings exclude them as the law treats them as uninsurable. The defence is covered; the fine is yours.
A claim from before the policy
Litigation started or known before the prior or pending litigation date is excluded on all six wordings read. A policy bought after the letter arrives does not answer.
The company suing its own director
Excluded on three wordings read, with carve-outs for a liquidator or administrator, a non-solicited shareholder claim, a past director and defence costs. One excludes claims by a shareholder holding 15 per cent; two apply it to US claims only.
Injury and damage
Bodily injury and property damage are excluded on all six, except the defence costs of a manslaughter or health and safety prosecution, carved back on four.
After the sale, and after the failure
A discovery period is unavailable where the policy lapses on insolvency on two wordings read, and on a 50 per cent change of control on two. One continues after liquidation only for earlier acts.
Who is insured
Who the Law Reaches, and Who the Policy Names
The statutes reach further than the board, and the Insolvency Act follows a director out of a failed company.
| Person | Where they stand | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| The registered director | The obvious insured person | Section 174 care, skill and diligence; section 172 promoting the company’s success |
| The company secretary and senior managers | Named by statute | Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act reaches a director, manager, secretary or similar officer on consent, connivance or neglect |
| The retired director | Covered in run-off | Six years, 72 months, 120 months or without limit depending on the wording |
| The director of a company that fails | The liquidator’s target | Wrongful trading and misfeasance under the Insolvency Act; discovery unavailable on two wordings read once the policy lapses on insolvency |
| The disqualified person | Liable in person | Section 15 of the Disqualification Act makes a disqualified person involved in management personally liable for the company’s debts incurred while they were involved in its management |
| The company itself | Only where bought | A company legal liability section on three wordings read; company reimbursement on two |
The court can let an honest director off. Section 1157 of the Companies Act lets a court relieve a director who acted honestly and reasonably, wholly or in part, where it is fair to do so. It is argued at the end of a case that has already been paid for, and that cost is what the policy funds. A director who also advises clients needs professional indemnity for the advice.
Who it is for
Who Carries Personal Liability for Running a Company?
Every director of the 5,516,377 companies on the register at the end of June 2026. No statute compels the policy; the law makes the exposure personal.
The exposure is personal by design. The company’s debts are its own; its directors’ duties are theirs. Breach one and section 232 stops the company covering you; trade on past the point of no return and section 214 lets a liquidator make you contribute; preside over a safety failure and section 37 puts you in the dock. The Insolvency Service secured 1,158 director disqualifications in 2025 to 2026, averaging eight years.
The duties
Sections 172 and 174, and the court’s discretion
Promote the success of the company for its members as a whole, and exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence. Section 1157 lets a court relieve an honest, reasonable director, after the case is argued.
The prosecutions
Health and safety, bribery and fraud
HSE completed 246 prosecutions in 2024 to 2025, a 96 per cent conviction rate. Section 14 of the Bribery Act reaches a senior officer who consents or connives. Since 1 September 2025 a large organisation, two of turnover over £36 million, balance sheet over £18 million or more than 250 employees, offends where an employee or agent commits fraud to benefit it and it had no reasonable procedures to prevent it.
The register is tightening. From 18 November 2025 new directors must verify their identity at Companies House, existing directors at the next confirmation statement. Late filing is a criminal offence with directors personally liable to fines; late accounts also carry a civil penalty of £150 to £1,500 for a private company. In the first half of 2026 the courts disqualified 23 directors after Companies House prosecutions.
The comparison people arrive wanting
The Director’s Policy vs the Company’s Policies
A company’s liability policies answer for what the business does to other people. D&O answers for what other people do to you. The lines cross at professional indemnity, and at the health and safety prosecution.
| Directors and officers | Commercial combined, public liability, professional indemnity | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is insured | The director, officer or manager personally; the company where bought | The company, for its premises, stock, income and liabilities |
| What triggers it | A claim first made against you in the period for a wrongful act in management | Damage, injury or loss occurring in the period |
| Basis | Claims-made on all six wordings read, with a discovery period after | Occurrence for damage and liability; claims-made for professional indemnity |
| Who can sue | Shareholders, liquidators, regulators, employees, HSE, the company itself | Customers, the public, employees, clients |
| Defence costs | Inside the limit, advanced on four wordings read | Often in addition to the limit on liability sections; check the wording |
| Fines | Defence covered; the fine is yours, and section 234 stops the company paying it | Excluded |
| On insolvency | The liquidator becomes the claimant; discovery unavailable on two wordings read | The policy lapses with the business |
| Who buys it | The company, under section 233 | The company |
Where the two overlap. A director sued for negligent advice to a client is a professional indemnity claim; a director prosecuted after a workplace death is a D&O defence costs claim, carved back on four wordings read, while the company’s liability sits on employers’ liability. The package the company holds is on our commercial combined insurance page.
What moves the number
What the Company Does to the Director’s Premium
The limit, the company’s size and sector, its financial health, any US exposure, the sections added and the claims record. We print no average premiums: a solvent consultancy and a loss-making manufacturer with a US customer are not one risk.
Why the balance sheet is a rating factor
An underwriter reads the accounts for the same reason a liquidator will.
Why the limit is the decision
One aggregate for every claim and every insured person, defence costs inside it, on all six wordings read. The limit is not per director, and a long investigation spends it before any award does.
What the quote is rated on
In roughly this order
- Limit of liabilityOne aggregate, costs inclusiveBase
- Size and sectorTurnover, employees, what the company doesRate
- Financial healthAccounts, net assets, going concernRate
- Sections and exposuresEntity cover, employment practices, US customersRate
- Claims and circumstancesInvestigations, disputes, anything notifiedAdjust
The limit
Shared by every insured person and eaten by defence costs first. A limit set for one director’s claim is spent by three directors’ investigation.
The sections
Company legal liability, employment practices and outside directorships each add a claimant. Each is priced on the company, not the board.
The record
Claims, circumstances, regulatory correspondence, a qualified audit. Declare them under the Insurance Act 2015; what was known and not said can let the insurer avoid the policy or cut the claim.
Where D&O claims are decided
The Clauses That Decide a D&O Claim After the Company Is Sold or Fails
A director’s exposure outlives the policy, the job and often the company. Four clauses decide whether the cover does.
The discovery period
Automatic on three wordings read, 90 days on two and 30 on one. Optional twelve months at half the annual premium on four, at the full premium on one, at one and a half times on one. Not available where the policy lapses on insolvency on two, or on a 50 per cent change of control on two; no right on one.
The sale of the company
After a change of control, cover on the wordings read runs only for wrongful acts before the sale. Three offer, or may offer, a run-off period of up to 72 months, one at twice the annual premium. The buyer’s policy does not answer for the seller’s board.
The retired director
Cover continues after you leave, provided the policy is not cancelled or replaced: six years on one wording read, 72 months on one, 120 months on one, unlimited on two, and no limit stated on one.
Conduct, and who may sue
The dishonesty and personal profit exclusion applies on all six only after a final adjudication or a written admission; one profit exclusion has no such wording. Claims by the company against its own directors are excluded on three, with carve-outs for liquidators and non-solicited shareholders, and on US claims only on two.
Before you start
What the Broker Needs About the Company and the Board
The company, its accounts, its board and its history: the filings a liquidator would read.
The accounts
The last filed accounts and the management accounts since. Net assets, turnover, borrowing, any going concern note, and whether the audit was qualified.
The board and officers
Every director and the company secretary, any outside directorships held on the company’s behalf, and anyone disqualified in the past.
The company
What it does, where its customers are, any US revenue, any regulated activity, any subsidiary, and who owns it.
Circumstances
Regulatory correspondence, an HSE visit, a grievance, a shareholder dispute, a demand from a former director.
Claims and investigations
Five years of claims, investigations and prosecutions against the company or any director, whether or not insured.
What is planned
A sale, a restructuring, a new subsidiary or a flotation. Each changes what the discovery and change of control clauses have to do.
A circumstance not declared is the claim not covered. Under the Insurance Act 2015 a commercial customer must make a fair presentation of the risk. On a claims-made policy the letter you already have is exactly what the prior and pending litigation date excludes. Cover for the company’s own liabilities is on our commercial combined insurance page.
Comparing properly
Read the Discovery Clause Before the Premium
The premium and the limit are the two numbers every comparison shows. Neither decides the claims this page describes; the discovery clause and the conduct exclusion do.
On timing
- Whether a discovery period is automatic, and for how long
- What the optional discovery period costs, and whether insolvency or a sale removes it
- How long a retired director stays covered
In the exclusions
- Whether the conduct exclusion needs a final adjudication or a written admission
- Whether claims by the company or its shareholders are excluded, and the carve-outs
- Whether manslaughter and health and safety defence costs are carved back
On the limit
- Whether defence costs sit inside the limit, and any sub-limit for emergency or unconsented costs
- Whether the limit is shared with a company legal liability or employment practices section
- Whether defence costs are advanced, and on what terms
In your own plans
- A sale or change of control this year, and the run-off you would need
- A director leaving, and the run-off the wording gives them
- Anything already in correspondence that the prior litigation date would catch
The two that catch directors out are both about time. A policy allowed to lapse when the company was sold, with no run-off bought, and a claim arriving in the discovery period nobody knew was 30 days long. Neither shows on a premium comparison. The standard terms are in our plain English jargon guide, and the company’s own liability policies are on our public liability and employers’ liability pages.
Without cutting the cover
Keeping a D&O Premium Down Without Losing the Run-Off
A D&O policy is priced on the company’s accounts and its record, so the levers are the filings and the declarations rather than shopping. We publish no savings figures.
Set the limit to the board, not to one claim
One aggregate shared by everyone, spent on defence costs first. The investigation that names every director is the claim to expect.
File on time and say so
Accounts and confirmation statements filed when due, identity verified at Companies House, and the audit clean. An underwriter rates the register as a liquidator reads it.
Declare the circumstances
A grievance, a regulator’s letter, a dispute with a former director. Declared, it is rated or excluded by name; discovered, the Insurance Act 2015 lets the insurer avoid the policy or cut the claim, depending on what it would have done had it known.
Keep the policy alive through a sale
Run-off is arranged before completion. After a change of control the wordings read cover only what happened before it, and the option to extend disappears on some.
Give leaving directors their run-off
On the wordings read a retired director keeps cover only while the policy is not cancelled or replaced. A board that lets it lapse strips its former members.
Evidence the governance
Board minutes, a risk register, a safety system, a bribery policy. Each is a defence and a rating factor.
Jargon buster
D&O and Companies Act Terms, Explained
The terms that come up when you read a D&O wording beside the Companies Act.
- Wrongful act
- Any actual or alleged breach of duty, neglect, error or omission by an insured person as a director or officer.
- Insured person
- A past, present or future director or officer, and a manager acting in that capacity. The company is insured only where a section says so.
- Claims-made
- The policy answers for claims first made against you during the period, whenever the act occurred. On all six wordings read.
- Discovery period
- A period after the policy ends in which a claim may still be made. Automatic on three wordings read; optional on all six.
- Run-off
- Cover for wrongful acts before a sale, insolvency or retirement, after the policy would otherwise end.
- Section 232
- The Companies Act provision making an exemption or indemnity for a director’s negligence or breach of duty void, save as the Act permits.
- Section 233
- The provision permitting a company to buy insurance for its directors against that liability. The legal basis for D&O.
- Qualifying third party indemnity
- The limited indemnity a company may give under section 234; it cannot cover fines, penalties or a lost defence.
- Conduct exclusion
- The exclusion for dishonesty, fraud or personal profit, applying on all six wordings read only after final adjudication or admission.
- Insured versus insured
- The exclusion for claims by the company or one insured person against another, with carve-outs. General on three wordings read; US-only on two.
- Advancement
- Payment of defence costs as incurred, before the claim is resolved. Stated on four wordings read.
- Aggregate limit
- One limit for all claims and all insured persons, costs inside it, on all six wordings read.
Anything not listed here is covered in our plain English jargon guide.
Why MyMoneyComparison.com
Where MyMoneyComparison.com Fits Between the Board and the Broker
MyMoneyComparison.com is an FCA-authorised UK comparison service that introduces company directors to specialist commercial brokers. We do not sell insurance and we do not give advice: the broker you choose arranges the policy. Using us is free.
One form, whole board
Describe the company once, trade and premises first, instead of repeating the accounts to each broker.
Advice given
We are an introducer, not a broker. We do not sell policies or recommend one insurer or product over another. Read our editorial policy.
Authorised and regulated
MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd appears on the FCA register under FRN 916241.
Incorporated
A UK company since 2013. FCA authorisation is separate and later; the register carries its date.
FAQs
Directors and Officers Insurance FAQs
Answers on the Companies Act, claims-made cover, discovery periods, insolvency, fines, dishonesty and the limit.
What is directors and officers insurance?
A liability policy on the people who run a company. It pays the defence costs, investigation costs and, where covered, the awards and settlements when a director, company secretary or senior manager is pursued personally for a wrongful act in managing the company. The company buys it under section 233 of the Companies Act 2006, because section 232 makes any exemption or indemnity for a director’s negligence or breach of duty void except as the Act permits.
Why can my company not just indemnify me?
Because section 232 of the Companies Act makes any provision exempting or indemnifying a director against liability for negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust void. Section 234 allows a limited qualifying third party indemnity, but it cannot cover a criminal fine, a regulatory penalty, the costs of a criminal defence that ends in conviction, or a civil claim by the company that you lose. Insurance under section 233 is the route the Act leaves open.
Who can bring a claim against a director?
The company itself, its shareholders, a liquidator or administrator under the Insolvency Act, employees, regulators, HSE under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and, for a senior officer who consents or connives, the prosecutor under the Bribery Act. The Insolvency Service secured 1,158 director disqualifications in 2025 to 2026, averaging just over eight years.
What does claims-made mean?
That the policy answers for a claim first made against you during the period of insurance, whichever year the wrongful act happened, on all six wordings read. It is the opposite of the occurrence basis on the company’s liability policies. It means a claim arriving after the policy ends is uncovered unless a discovery period or run-off reaches it, and a claim you already knew about when you bought the policy is excluded by the prior and pending litigation date.
What is a discovery period?
A period after the policy ends in which a claim can still be made and notified. On the six wordings read it is automatic on three, 90 days on two and 30 on one, and can be bought for twelve months at half the annual premium on four, the full premium on one and one and a half times on one. It is unavailable where the policy lapses on insolvency on two, or after a 50 per cent change of control on two.
Am I still covered after I retire from the board?
On the six wordings read, yes, provided the policy is not cancelled or replaced: for six years on one, 72 months on one, 120 months on one, without limit on two, and with no limit stated on one. The claim still has to be first made in that window. A board that lets the policy lapse after a sale strips its former members of that cover, which is why run-off is bought before completion.
What happens to the cover when the company is sold?
After a change of control the wordings read cover only wrongful acts before the sale. Three offer, or may offer, a run-off period of up to 72 months, one at twice the annual premium and one at the insurer’s discretion; one gives no right to a discovery period at all after a sale. The buyer’s policy does not answer for the seller’s board, so the run-off is negotiated as part of the deal.
Does D&O cover a liquidator’s claim for wrongful trading?
A wrongful trading or misfeasance claim under sections 214 and 212 of the Insolvency Act is a claim against the director personally for a wrongful act, and the defence of it is what the policy is for. Two things narrow it: a discovery period is unavailable where the policy lapses on insolvency on two wordings read, and one wording continues after liquidation only for acts before the liquidation date. A contribution ordered by the court is covered where the wording treats it as loss.
Are fines and penalties covered?
No. A criminal fine or a regulatory penalty is what section 234 of the Companies Act forbids the company to indemnify, and the wordings read exclude them as the law treats them as uninsurable. What is covered is the cost of defending the prosecution or investigation, including on four wordings read the defence of a manslaughter or health and safety charge, and on one £100,000 of such costs in excess of other insurance.
Is dishonesty excluded?
Yes, but only once proven. On all six wordings read the conduct exclusion for dishonesty, fraud or personal profit applies after a judgment, final adjudication, final ruling or a written admission. Until then the allegation is defended and the costs are paid. One wording’s personal profit exclusion carries no such wording.
Can the company claim against its own director on the policy?
Depends on the wording. Three of the six exclude claims brought by the company or another insured person, with carve-outs for a liquidator or administrator, a non-solicited shareholder or derivative claim, a past director, and defence costs. One excludes claims by a shareholder holding 15 per cent or more. Two apply the exclusion to US claims only, so a UK claim by the company is not caught by it.
Is the limit per director?
No, on all six wordings read. The limit is an aggregate for all claims and all insured persons in the period, with defence and investigation costs inside it. One wording sub-limits emergency costs at 10 per cent and one caps unconsented costs at 10 per cent. Three directors defending the same liquidator share one number, which is why the limit is set for the board rather than for one claim.
Are defence costs paid as I go?
On four wordings read, yes: on an ongoing basis, as they fall due, pending resolution, or as incurred, one repayable if the claim turns out not to be covered. Two do not confirm advancement. The wordings that advance costs generally require the insurer’s consent to the lawyers and the spend; read that condition.
Does D&O cover the company as well as the directors?
Only where a section says so. Three wordings read carry a company legal liability section for claims against the entity itself, one up to £5 million including health and safety and corporate manslaughter investigation costs. Employment practices liability for claims by staff is optional or a separate section on five. The company’s premises, stock, income and public liability are the commercial combined policy, not this one.
Does a small company need D&O?
The exposure does not scale with size. Section 232 voids an indemnity for a one-director company as much as for a plc, section 214 lets a liquidator pursue a director who traded on past the point where insolvent liquidation could not reasonably be avoided, and section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act names the manager and secretary of any body corporate. Whether the premium is worth it is a decision for the board, not one we make.
Is D&O the same as professional indemnity?
No. Professional indemnity answers for the advice, design or service the firm sells to its clients. D&O answers for the management of the company: the decisions of the board, the accounts, the employees, the regulators and the insolvency. A director sued for a negligent report to a client is a professional indemnity claim. Both are claims-made, and the notification rules on each are on our professional indemnity page.
What is an insured versus insured exclusion?
The exclusion for claims by the company or one insured person against another, written to stop a company using its own policy to recover from its own board. On three wordings read it is a general exclusion with carve-outs for liquidators, non-solicited shareholders, past directors and defence costs. On two it applies only to claims brought in the United States, and on one it takes the form of a bar on claims by a 15 per cent shareholder.
Is the law the same in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
The Companies Act 2006, including sections 232 to 234, applies in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alike. Disqualification, insolvency and health and safety differ: Scotland shares the corporate insolvency provisions of the 1986 Acts and the Health and Safety at Work Act with England and Wales, while Northern Ireland has its own Company Directors Disqualification Order 2002, Insolvency Order 1989 and Health and Safety at Work Order 1978, enforced by HSENI. The wordings read are written for the whole UK.
What does an underwriter want to see for a D&O quote?
The filed accounts and anything since, the board and officers, what the company does and where its customers are, any US revenue or regulated activity, five years of claims and investigations, and every circumstance that could become a claim. One click starts the form; the accounts are what the broker turns into a submission.
Why does this page not show D&O insurance prices?
Because no figure would be true for you. A D&O premium is built from the limit, the company’s size, sector and balance sheet, its exposures and the sections added, in combinations no average captures. If we publish data of our own one day, it will carry a sample size and a date.
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One click starts a short form. Specialist UK commercial brokers can then come back with D&O quotes. The discovery period and the run-off terms are worth having in writing. Free to use, with no obligation to buy.
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About this page
This page is about the director: why the law makes a person liable for running a company and what a D&O policy does about it. It is not about the company’s own cover, which sits on our commercial combined insurance page, and it is not about advice to clients, which has our professional indemnity insurance page. It is general information rather than advice. Policies and definitions differ between insurers, so read your own documents and put the questions raised here to your insurer, broker or solicitor.
How we approached this page
- Six published UK D&O and management liability policy wordings from six insurers, for the claims-made, discovery, run-off, conduct, insured versus insured, advancement and limit clauses quoted throughout
- The Companies Act 2006, the Insolvency Act 1986, the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Bribery Act 2010 and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, on legislation.gov.uk
- Insolvency Service enforcement outcomes, the HSE annual report and Companies House statistics and guidance, for the figures
- The Insurance Act 2015, for the duty of fair presentation; the Financial Conduct Authority register, for checking a firm
No premium figures and no savings claims appear here. The money figures on this page are clause limits, statutory thresholds and penalties quoted from named sources, not prices. The main thing this page adds is the reading of the discovery and run-off clauses against what the Companies Act allows, which comparison tables leave out.
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