Access To Insurance Policies: The New Battleground

Recent months have seen three major attempts by plaintiffs to get access to the insurance policies of companies and their directors targeted for litigation. Only one has been successful, but the rapid growth of litigation-funded securities class actions suggests that this is going to be a hot topic for the foreseeable future.

Successful

As we reported in April, a shareholder in listed flooring manufacturer Style Ltd applied for access to its D&O policies. The shareholder wanted to determine if it was worthwhile taking court proceedings against Style's directors for alleged breaches of duty.

The shareholder relied on his statutory rights to apply for access to his company's books. Although this was the first time that the statutory right had been directed at D&O policies, the shareholder's application was successful.