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Directors and officers insurance
Specialist professional indemnity insurance from £8 month.
Fast, easy online quote in 90 seconds
24hr legal advice helpline included
No hidden fees or cancellations
It's a common misconception that directors and officers of limited companies have no personal liability for their actions at their firm.
In reality, company directors and officers can be held personally accountable for poor decisions, mismanagement and other breaches of the Companies Act, even if their actions were done with the best intentions.
Allegations of negligence by directors and officers can be very costly to defend. Without directors’ and officers’ insurance (also known as D&O insurance), you may have to pay defence and compensation payments out of your personal wealth.
Cover at a glance:
- £100k – £1m cover available
- Covers legal defence costs and compensation
- Protection for wrongful acts committed by directors or officers
- Suitable for limited companies
What is directors’ and officers’ insurance?
Directors’ and officers’ insurance offers vital protection for you as a company director or officer. It pays your legal defence costs and damages that you are legally liable to pay to other parties following a wrongful act committed by you in your capacity as a company director or officer. This can include:
- Actions brought by liquidators who suspect wrongful trading or incorrect payments to creditors
- Actions brought by HMRC where insolvent trading or misappropriation of tax payments is suspected
- HSE investigations where negligence is suspected
- Police and SFO investigations where fraud is suspected
Explore our article to find out more about what directors' and officers' insurance is.
Why choose Markel for directors and officers insurance?
Below are just some of the reasons why you should take out a policy with us:
D&O cover from
£5.00 per month*
*Price based on a business consultant requiring £25,000 of directors’ and officers’ insurance.
Who needs directors’ and officers’ insurance?
It’s important to note that while the legal definition of a director is reasonably clear, the legal definition of an officer is vague enough to allow claims or proceedings to be issued against people in almost any managerial or supervisory position.
So while you may be confident that all of your company's directors are aware of their legal responsibilities, it is vital to understand that problems can be caused inadvertently by individuals at many levels of an organisation. In that sense, having directors’ and officers’ liability cover in place mitigates the potential risk across the business.
To learn more about company director insurance, read our ‘What is Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance?’ article.
Why do directors and officers need insurance?
Personal claims or proceedings against directors or officers can arise from any decision made or act carried out in the workplace, however innocuous it may have seemed at the time.
Claims and proceedings where directors’ liability can be involved also typically include:
- Claims by investors and shareholders who blame directors personally for losses
- Actions brought by liquidators who suspect wrongful trading or incorrect payments to creditors
- Actions brought by HMRC who suspect insolvent trading or misappropriation of tax payments
- HSE investigations where negligence is suspected
- Police and SFO investigations where fraud is suspected
Get directors’ and officers’ insurance UK – wide cover today. Call Markel Direct on 0371 705 2132.
How it works
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What does directors’ and officers’ insurance cover?
Our D&O liability insurance covers your legal liability as a director or officers of the company, as well as your legal costs and expenses in respect of:
- The defence of any legal action seeking your disqualification as a director
- Any investigations
- Extradition proceedings (including appeals)
- PR crisis management – dealing with adverse press, publicity or media attention in the UK
Our directors’ & officers’ liability claims team can often help you to defuse difficult situations at the first sign of trouble; minimising the risk of a frivolous claim, or helping you direct claims or proceedings towards the company rather than individuals.
Should proceedings arise, our directors’ indemnity insurance covers a wide range of scenarios: from legal costs and damages where actionable mistakes have been made, through to arranging and paying for legal representation throughout lengthy and expensive official investigations. We can even arrange legal representation at a police station in the event of a director or officer's arrest.
Having directors’ insurance in such situations can be invaluable.
What is covered
What is not covered
How much does directors’ and officers’ insurance cost?
D and O insurance is available from £5 a month* - get an online quote now or call us on 0371 705 2132.
You’ll receive instant proof of cover, meaning your directors and officers are immediately protected.
*Price based on a business consultant requiring £25,000 of directors’ and officers’ insurance.
Example policy documents
If you have an existing policy with us, please sign in to view your policy documents.
Below you will find examples of the documents provided.
Indicative quotes
Business consultant
- Limited company
- 0 employees
- £101,000 turnover
- Lincoln
- (£221.20/yr)
- £22.12/mo
- Directors & officers £25,000
- Professional indemnity £1m
- Cyber
- Public liability
Recruitment / employment agency
- Limited company
- 0 employees
- £168,000 turnover
- Bath
- (£94.08/yr)
- £9.41/mo
- Directors & officers £25,000
- Public liability £1m
- Cyber
- Legal expenses
IT contractor / consultant
- Limited company
- 0 employees
- £116,000 turnover
- Bristol
- (£212.80/yr)
- £21.28/mo
- Directors & officers £25,000
- Public liability £1m
- Cyber
- Legal expenses
*Final price payable is subject to underwriting criteria and acceptance. AI images are used on this website to depict example customer types. Any resemblance to an actual person is purely coincidental.
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Frequently asked questions
These frequently asked questions are designed to help you and include questions relating to policy cover, pricing and ‘technical’ terms.
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What kind of claims does directors and officers insurance cover against?
Some examples of D&O coverage claims we have handled include:
- Breach of health and safety regulations: A huge pane of glass fell from a redevelopment project onto the pavement. No-one was injured but the Health & Safety Executive made a site visit. This revealed legislative breaches by the construction company. Actions were brought against the directors.
- Director vs director action: A husband and wife team equally owned a cleaning company. Following a messy divorce, the wife accused her husband of deliberately mismanaging the finances to distort the true worth of the business.
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How are Markel Direct regulated?
Markel Direct is a trading name of Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023.
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