Honan Insurance Group has rebranded its Financial and Professional Risks department to Professional and Executive Risks, to better reflect the group’s approach to managing professional and executive risks.
The Honan Professional and Executive Risks team supports financial institutions, professional service firms, and corporate organisations with market-related issues and challenges, such as directors and officers (D&O) insurance.
“Honan’s Professional and Executive Risks team works proactively with clients by actively engaging in relevant education and alerting them to the changing insurance environment well in advance of cover renewal,” said Henry Clark, head of the newly rebranded specialist department. “The team then guide them to establish the most appropriate strategy to reduce the impact on premium and coverage.”
Clark noted that D&O insurance is no longer just an option for many businesses, regardless of size, amid “continuing growth in securities class actions, litigation, and the prospects of further action arising in 2019 and beyond.”
“The primary driver for the current hardening D&O market is the growth in securities class actions led by opportunistic law firms backed by litigation funders and predictions that further claims pressure will arise from the Hayne royal commission, privacy regulation, workplace health and safety, and now the royal commission into aged care quality and safety,” Clark said. “As a result, upward pressure on D&O premiums will continue into 2019 and beyond as insurers leave the market resulting in the current pool becoming inadequate to cover increasing and expensive claims.”
