Liability

Liability

Liability is the most diverse line of insurance. Cover is usually two-fold:

  • Payments to third parties due to negligent acts of our client
  • Legal defense of our client against a claim by a third party

We can provide solutions for all liability lines on stand-alone or package bases.

Liability Insurance is divided into Operational/ Casualty Lines, associated with all businesses and Financial/ Professional Lines associated with the professional advice and services. In Operational/ Casualty Lines the claim is usually for bodily injury/ property damage, whereas in Financial/ Professional Lines the claim is for financial compensation.

Operational/ Casualty Liability Lines:

  • Auto Liability: In plain terms this is car insurance, and can be extended to cover damage to our client’s own vehicle. Our specialty in this line of business is company fleets, irrespective of size.
  • Employer’s Liability: Since 1997 this is a mandatory insurance in Cyprus for all employers and provides indemnity against accidents/ occupational diseases of employees. Even though it is compulsory by law, basic insurance policies have significant gaps and contain provisions that could be considered illegal in a court of law. We specialize on programs of all size and have a considerable account of high hazard trades.
  • Public Liability: Provides protection from claims by third parties for bodily injury and property damage. Usually policies in Cyprus provide coverage only on the insured’s, which leaves many businesses that trade away from their main location exposed to uninsured losses. Our Public Liability policies are tailored to offer Europe-wide coverage and can be extended to worldwide if required.
  • Product Liability: Provides protection for bodily injury and property damage from defective products. Given Product Liability in the EU is strict, this solution is essential solution for all businesses in the supply chain. The premium usually varies depending on the value added to the product, with manufacturing carrying the highest rates and retailers the lowest. Apart from an insurance-based solution we usually consult our clients while negotiating distribution agreements, where Product Liability provisions can place asymmetric liability on a business.
  • Environmental Liability: Provides protection to businesses against the costs of cleaning up environmental pollution they have caused and damages to third parties including the government. Since Environmental Liability is governed by EU legislation and liability is strict this solution is necessary for all trading businesses, however given the lack of sophistication in the Cyprus market, these solutions are currently available from international insurers only.

Financial/ Professional Lines:

In Financial/ Professional Lines the concept is the same as other liability lines, however the trigger of a loss is not bodily injury or property damage to third parties, but an error or omission that causes financial loss to a third party. Therefore indemnity is usually financial in nature and associated with professionals, e.g. Engineers/ Architect, Accountants, Lawyers, Medical Practitioners etc.
The main Financial/ Professional Insurance solutions are:

  • Professional Liability or Professional Indemnity Insurance: Provides protection from an error/ omission in providing Professional services/ advice. Claims include negligent advice for lawyers, missing tax deadlines and erroneous merger/ acquisition advice for accountants, wrongful design for architects and failure to supervise properly for engineers. This solution is usually mandatory for many professions, however insurance terms vary across the insurance market and in most cases can be extended to include employee dishonesty.
  • Medical Malpractice Insurance: Is a specialist Professional Liability Insurance for medical practitioners. Cover is far more extensive than Professional Liability as it includes bodily injury. Most of our policies also include Good Samaritan coverage, in case liability arises from treatment given to a patient without a fee. This is usually excluded from typical insurance policies.
  • Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance (D&O): Company Directors face unlimited personal liability due to the provisions in the Companies Law. Errors/ omissions for directors, especially of companies listed in stock exchanges can have considerable impact on their personal financial security. D&O protects directors from this exposure and specialist solutions exist for directors of associations, pension/ provident fund committee and nominee directors in offshore/ international firms.
  • Employment Practices Liability: This solution protects businesses from liability against employment related claims, e.g. sexual harassment, unfair dismissal etc. The market is driven by western economies’ experience, however as business units grow and relationships become more driven by financial motivation, claims will become more frequent and this solution may be used to smoothen their financial impact. It is also available as an add-on to D&O programs.