Knowledge Knuggets explore various aspects of professional liability insurance that are important for agents to know. They are written by me, Chris Christian, a recognized expert in the field who shares technical expertise in industry publications and in educational settings such as PLUS and CIC Ruble Seminars. Knuggets provide valuable insight about critical nuances of coverage for PL professionals.
When initially distributed via email, Knowledge Knuggets take no more than a few minutes to read. They are archived here for your easy reference. In the event that a Knowledge Knugget topic is covered in a series of Knuggets, I have compiled all the Knuggets in the series into a white paper. Future Knowledge Knugget releases will be announced on the PLTidbits blog, and can be received directly via email by persons on my mailing list. (Use the handy button in the sidebar to sign up). They will also be available in this archive for future reference and downloading.
List of Archived Knowledge Knuggets:
Your D&O Knowledge Knugget is both excellent and evidence that so much of insurance is about the details that require professionals like you to help insureds navigate through the hype to get what they want. Unfortunately, two well intentioned parties may have been attempting to provide the desired coverage but their success or failure may never come to light unless and until a claim is made.
It is interesting and not a surprise that an underwriter or policy issuance group failed to add the professional exclusion to a D+O policy. Still imbedded in almost all D+O policies are full pollution exclusion’s, nuclear exclusions and bi/pd exclusions. If your an environmental engineer your D+O is probably a weak place to look for coverage. Having said that the insurance industry is full of “back door claims ” that are beyond the issuing companies intent or expectation( remember asbestos ). The fact is that if you are a lawyer, engineer, accountant etc. going to court with a D_O policy and not a E+O policy is not a place I would want to be. The D+O policy protects your officers and directors while your professional liability is designed to respond to claims from a failure to perform and/or an error or omission in executing your professional duties. This is not to mention how your outside director’s or CFO might feel about their limits being at risk for claims not directly related to their work.
Agreed!
Thanks, Cary. You know what amazes me is the insured to whom you can circle the words in black and white on the policy page, yet they will still believe someone else who tells them what they want to hear. What’s up with that? I see it once or twice a year.