More companies with international operations are buying local insurance to cover the risk of lawsuits against their company managers, according to a survey released Tuesday by Towers Watson & Co.
Towers Watson surveyed 496 organizations that obtain directors and officers liability insurance. Out of the 53% that said their companies have international operations, 47% said they bought a local policy in a foreign jurisdiction. That compares with only 2% of respondents with international operations that did so in 2008, the last time the survey was conducted.
The survey found that as a rule, the larger the company, the more likely it was to purchase local D&O coverage. As such, 68% of companies with $10 billion or more in assets said they bought local policies, while 23% of companies with less than $250 million in assets did so.
In other findings, 21% of survey respondents said they’d increased their D&O limits from their prior D&O policy. That compares with just 12% that did so in 2008.
In addition, 31% of organizations reported having claims against their D&O programs during the past 10 years.