All quiet on D&O, E&O fronts despite subprime storm

The crisis in the subprime mortgage market has had little impact on availability, cost or policy conditions of directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O) and errors and omissions (E&O) policies, according to research by Advisen Ltd.
Based on a survey of 110 insurance buyers, more than 90% of commercial banks, investment banks, mortgage lenders, real estate investment trusts and other companies in the financial services sector have renewed, or expect to renew, their D&O and E&O policies at the same or lower rates, an Advisen release says.
This is despite the more than US$200 billion in write-downs reported to date from mortgage-related investments and more than 175 lawsuits already filed against companies involved in the subprime mortgage market, the release adds.
“We launched this survey when we didn’t detect a reaction to the subprime meltdown in the D&O and E&O insurance program data we routinely compile from insurance buyers and brokers,” said Dave Bradford, Advisen’s chief insurance industry analyst.
“We felt there had to be more to the story, but the survey results confirm all is quiet on the D&O and E&O fronts.”