Benjamin Schumacher, one of Nater Dallafior's experts on liability and insurance law, published an article on D&O insurance in Switzerland's leading journal for insurance law (HAVE - Haftung und Versicherung, vol. 3/2022). The co-author is Patrick Dummermuth of Kessler & Co. AG.

The article addresses particular questions on the so-called "Side A" coverage. If a company buys D&O insurance for the benefit of its members of the board and management, these (co-)insured persons benefit from the coverage ("Side A" coverage). In practice, however, whether members of the board and management can actually obtain and enforce coverage may depend on a variety of factors. Apart from "classic" issues that may arise in any coverage, such as questions regarding the temporal, territorial and factual scope of application, exclusions of coverage, statute of limitations and forfeiture, etc., additional, specific issues may arise in the context of "Side A" coverage in D&O policies.

This publication addresses selected issues, including the conditions under which insured persons can take direct action against the D&O insurer, the extent to which a loss must first be compensated by the company itself, what must be observed in the case of pre-contractual duties of disclosure to the insurer, what objections insurers may raise, what special difficulties exist in the event of the company's bankruptcy, or what options co-insured persons have for obtaining information on the D&O policy.