Covid-19 heightened boardroom personal liability fears; C-suite looking over shoulder for claims

The Covid-19 pandemic forced personal liability worries to the forefront of boardroom thinking, with some 30 percent of UK senior level managers now worrying that pandemic conditions and the decisions they took to counteract them likely carry heightened risk of personal liability claims.

Those fears are not unfounded: 72 percent of leaders that have ever faced claims came under fire precisely during the pandemic, according to a new research released by re/insurer QBE.

Roughly half of participants said their personal liability has increased over the past 18 months, more acutely at larger organisations where 62 percent of leaders expressed such concerns, the survey data showed.

The top fear, expressed by 30 percent, is that a pandemic-era decision will come back to haunt them. Some 27 percent name cyber breaches or attacks as their top threat. Regulatory changes are tops on the mind of the next 23 percent.

“Senior leaders are increasingly being held to account when a business issue arises and, as a result, there is a natural evolution where the decisions they made during the pandemic are subject to retrospective review and may well lead to claims,” said Geoff de Mallet Morgan, head of financial lines for QBE International.

A strong majority of the panel said the pandemic has changed their firm’s risk profile, pointing to possible need to review D&O or related coverage schemes. Over one in three see increased financial/economic risks and employee health and safety risks. One in four sees increased cybersecurity/data risks.

The research was carried out by Opinium in an online survey of 500 senior decision makers in the UK.