Navigators’ first-of-a-kind product proves popular

In just a month since the syndicate announced the product, the number of new clients buying NavDefence is now in the double-digits.

Navigators spotted the opportunity in the market following a judgment in the High Court in Australia against the directors of Bridgecorp, a company that went bankrupt in 2007. The company owed $500million to creditors. Directors were deprived of defence costs under the company's $20million D&O policy, when the company successfully argued it had priority to claim the insurance money. The directors were left without cover for their criminal defence costs. 

"In light of the recent Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) survey results and the recent judgment by the Auckland High Court in the Bridgecorp case, directors have felt vulnerable to the potential of funding their own defence costs despite having traditional D&O policies in place," says Carl Bach, Head of Syndicate 1221's Navigators Pro division.

The NavDefence policy offers dedicated defence costs coverage for directors where a charge has been placed on the main D&O policy, and it's available for directors of private and publicly-traded corporations domiciled in Australia and New Zealand – and for international corporations operating within the region.

Navigators currently writes a £25million limit to cover a company's board of directors, but a number of other syndicates at Lloyd's are able to provide excess in cases when a company feels it needs a higher limit. 

While the target market for NavDefence remains Australia and New Zealand, there could be opportunities for the product to be rolled out in other areas if the law in those jurisdictions could make directors vulnerable to being without cover.