Industrial and commercial companies
As an insured company, you take out directors’ and officers’, professional indemnity, fraud or cyber policies, and you expect them to respond on the day of the claim.
We act for corporate policyholders as well as for insurers, as monitoring counsel or coverage counsel: risk assessment, review and placing of policies, claims handling, pre-litigation and litigation. We also advise groups that acquire, sell or restructure an insurance or reinsurance undertaking or an insurance distributor: due diligence, transaction documents, approvals and portfolio transfers.
Your questions
What does a monitoring counsel do?
Where an insured conducts its defence with its own lawyers, the insurer covering the claim needs independent oversight: reading the file, advising on strategy and on proposed settlements, measuring the exposure under the policy. That is the role of monitoring counsel. Coverage counsel, by contrast, gives a view on cover itself: does the policy apply, within what limits, with what reservations.
Does a D&O policy cover defence costs before any finding of liability?
Generally, yes: most directors’ and officers’ policies cover defence costs from the claim onwards, subject to exclusions and limits, sometimes as an advance to be repaid if intentional misconduct is ultimately established. Everything depends on the wording of the policy, to be reread before the claim is notified.
Our insurer refuses to cover a claim. What should we do?
First reread the policy alongside the claim: definition of the loss, policy period, notification deadline, exclusions relied on. Then answer the coverage position point by point, reserving your rights. Most refusals turn on the reading of a clause: pre-litigation settles some files, and the arbitrator or the court decides the others.
Several of our policies may cover the same claim. Which one responds?
A claim against a director may fall under the D&O policy, the professional indemnity policy and a fraud or cyber policy at the same time. Each policy has its own definition of the loss, its period and its limits, and clauses govern the order in which they respond. We notify the claim to each insurer concerned and coordinate their positions, so that overlapping policies do not turn into a coverage dispute.
Do you need the ACPR’s authorisation to take control of a French insurer?
Yes. Acquiring or increasing a holding in an insurance undertaking, directly or indirectly, above the thresholds set by the regulations requires the ’s prior authorisation; a disposal or reduction is notified to it (Article L. 322-4 of the Code des assurances, the French Insurance Code). The review period must be built into the transaction timetable. In Luxembourg, proposed acquisitions of qualifying holdings are notified to the CAA (the Luxembourg insurance supervisory authority), under a regime of the same European origin.
- 01
Design
We assess your risks and place the policies that cover them.
- Assessing the company’s risks and the cover they call for
- Review and placing of policies at inception and at renewal: D&O, EPL, professional indemnity, fraud, warranty and indemnity
- Reading the clauses that will decide the claim: definition of the claim, policy period, exclusions, limits, defence costs
- Cyber policies and cover for IT activities and providers
- 02
Steer
We handle your claims, from notification to resolution, and your transactions involving an insurance undertaking.
- Notifying the claim and dealing with the insurer
- Coverage position and discussion of the insurer’s response
- Coordination between several policies and several insurers on the same claim
- Acquisition, sale or restructuring of an insurance undertaking or a distributor: due diligence, documentation, ACPR approvals, portfolio transfers
- 03
Defend
We defend your cover and your liability, before the courts and in arbitration.
- Negotiation and settlement with third parties and with the insurer
- Coverage disputes and liability litigation before the courts or in arbitration
- Cyber claims: cover, follow-up and handling