Does My Business Need New Jersey Directors And Officers Liability Insurance?
If your business has a corporate board, an advisory committee, or has any other type of officer, you should seriously consider investing in a New Jersey directors and officers liability insurance policy.
You don’t have to make millions of dollars in revenue for your board of directors to have a personal lawsuit filed against them. Businesses that are on the smaller side and don’t generate a sizeable revenue are likely to need the protection that this type of coverage offers just as much, if not even more so, than large public companies.
What Does New Jersey Directors And Officers Liability Insurance Cover?
NJ directors and officers liability insurance offers protection for the personal assets of a business’ board of corporate directors and officers, as well as their spouses, if they are ever faced with a personal lawsuit. This includes any lawsuits that may be filed by employees, vendors, investors, customers, competitors and various other people, and suits may filed for real or alleged wrongdoings that have occurred while managing a company. This policy usually protects a business, too.
A New Jersey directors and officers liability insurance policy covers any legal costs, including attorney and court fees, as well as settlements, that may occur when a personal lawsuit is filed against a company’s corporate directors and officers.
Why is D&O insurance so important? There are a number of reasons why someone might decide to sue an officer of a business. Some examples include:
- Using business money in a way that it is not intended to be used
- Fraud
- The misrepresentation of the assets that a company offers
- A breach of financial duties that ends up causing financial losses or even bankruptcy
- Not complying with laws that are established for the workplace
- Misconduct or inappropriate behavior in the workplace, such as sexual harassment
- Stealing the ideas of another business and making revenue off of those ideas
- Theft of a competitor’s customer base
While New Jersey directors and officers liability insurance does cover a wide variety of lawsuit types, it is important to note that a policy usually does not cover any illegal actions or profits that may be made in an unlawful way.
What New Jersey Directors And Officers Liability Insurance Doesn’t Cover
D&O insurance typically does not cover (excludes):
- bodily injury and property damage
- fraud and dishonest acts
- pollution
- breach of contract
Most of the time, a NJ D&O policy will include endorsements with additional exclusions based on the applicant’s risk characteristics. These exclusions might relate to areas such as professional services, antitrust, medical malpractice, and publishing.
Types of Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Coverage
When it comes to D and O insurance, people who own a business have several options to choose from and can adjust their polices to their needs. However, there are three main types of coverage. This includes the following:
- A-Side Coverage. This coverage protects directors, officers and in some cases, employees, for attorney fees, settlement costs, or judgments if a business is unable to cover them.
- B-Side Coverage. This coverage shields the company for any losses that directors, officers and employees may experience if a business is unable to cover them.
- C-Side Coverage. This is also known as entity coverage and it protects the company itself. This coverage my minimize the limits that are available to coverage for individual directors and officers.
How Much Does New Jersey Directors And Officers Liability Insurance Cost?
How much does New Jersey directors and officers liability insurance cost? There are several factors that affect the cost of directors and officers insurance coverage. The type of business you run, the amount of revenue you may, and whether or not there have been any legal claims filed against your company in the past are all factors that are taken into consideration when determining the cost of coverage.
Further Reading On Management Liability Insurance
NJ Directors And Officers Liability Insurance Quotes
Request a New Jersey Directors And Officers Liability Insurance quote in Atlantic City, Bayonne, Bergenfield, Bridgeton, Camden, Carteret, Cliffside Park, Clifton, Dover, East Orange, Egg Harbor, Elizabeth, Elmwood Park, Englewood, Fair Lawn, Fort Lee, Garfield, Glassboro, Hackensack, Hawthorne, Hoboken, Jersey City, Kearny, Linden, Lodi, Long Branch, Millville, Morristown, New Brunswick, Newark, North Plainfield, Palisades Park, Paramus, Passaic, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Pleasantville, Point Pleasant, Rahway, Ridgewood, Roselle, Sayreville, South Plainfield, Summit, Trenton, Union City, Vineland, West New York, Westfield and all other cities in NJ.
Insurance Regulations In New Jersey
There insurance regulations that govern both business and personal insurance in the state of NJ. There are certain regulations that you want to keep in mind whether you are getting insurance as a private party, or you may have a business and are concerned about the regulations and oversight of your business insurance.
New Jersey Commercial Insurance
The regulations governing business insurance start with general liability insurance. General liability insurance protects you from lawsuits from people that come on your property with a variety of coverages. For example, it may protect against bodily injury, it may also protect against property damage caused by your business - for example, if your sign falls on someone's car - or it may protect against advertising, false arrest and lots of other different things that can happen. However, keep in mind that general liability insurance is not required in the state of New Jersey.
There are certain types of insurance that are required by businesses in New Jersey though. One of the regulations governing business insurance in New Jersey requires that anyone who has a full-time or part-time employee carry Worker's Compensation insurance to cover that employee. Workers comp is sort of like health insurance for employees that get hurt on the job.
In addition, NJ law says that employers must provide employee disability coverage to provide income for employees who are injured on the job and have to take time off due to a temporary or permanent disability. Finally, businesses in New Jersey are required to carry commercial auto insurance for company vehicles.
NJ Personal Insurance
The first type of personal insurance that will be discussing is auto insurance. Personal auto insurance in New Jersey requires that the driver carry 15 000 USD per person and 30 000 USD per accident in liability coverage. In addition, there must be an additional 5000 USD for property damage.
As far as life insurance regulations, insurance companies must be regulated by the Department of Banking and Insurance which maintains all records of insurance companies that are licensed to do business in the state. In addition, residents have a 10 day free look period, a grace period of 30 days and insurance companies must make payments in a timely fashion; which is within two months of receiving proof of death from the beneficiary.