Two lawyers at an Australian commercial law firm are encouraging companies to consider taking up chain of responsibility (COR) liability insurance to protect their business against unintended breaches.
Under the COR, all parties who took part in the consignment and delivery of goods, can be found accountable for breaches of the Heavy Vehicle National Law.
Holding Redlich partner Nathan Cecil and solicitor Dilip Ramaswamy said that aside from upholding good business practices, it is logical that companies purchase COR insurance against unintended breaches, ATN reported.
“Companies can protect themselves against possible breaches by implementing COR compliance policies and practices and demonstrating that they took reasonable steps to prevent breaches from occurring as a result of their activities,” they told the publication.
“However, it is also logical to manage risk, reduce uncertainty, and protect your livelihood by way of insurance.”
Offenders will face penalties based on the severity of the offence.
An accumulation of minor and substantial breaches can cost the company heavy fines that may impact its financial stability, the report said.
“In addition, breaches can result in investigations throughout an organisation and have even resulted in the grounding of heavy vehicle fleets, exposing the company concerned to significant business losses,” the lawyers told ATN.
“Therefore, companies may look to insure against some (but not all) of these risks by applying for a mixture of the following insurances: public liability; professional indemnity; management liability; directors and officers liability; transportation.”
The lawyers said COR does not cover intentional, deliberate, dishonest, fraudulent, or malicious acts, but noted the existence of “a grey area between the two extremes of intentional criminal conduct and civil negligence,” ATN reported.
