What is management liability/directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability insurance and why do RYA clubs and associations need the cover?

• Committee members, officers, trustees, managers, employees and members are all subject to various duties and standards in the performance of their roles
• If an individual falls short of their obligations, they can be held personally liable via civil, criminal or regulatory proceedings against them as individuals for perceived ‘wrongful’ or ‘negligent’ acts
• D&O insurance protects decision makers and covers defence costs as well as reimbursing associated fines and penalties
• Corporate liability (entity) cover is automatically included within the Gallagher product – covering any legal entity, as well as any individuals undertaking specific roles/duties
• Crime cover is automatically included within the Gallagher product, providing a basic £50,000 indemnity limit (higher limits are also available) and covering risks of internal fraud/theft, as well as the threat of external third-party fraud – for example social engineering
• Our Gallagher management liability/D&O policy also includes an abuse extension providing an inner limit of £100,000 – cover which is generally excluded within the market under D&O policies
• Importantly, the Gallagher policy automatically extends the broad definition of the ‘insured’ to include committee members & trustees of the club or association 

What might constitute a ‘wrongful’ or ‘negligent’ act?

Wrongful act essentially means any act, error, omission, misstatement, misleading statement, neglect, employment practices wrongful act or breach of duty actually or allegedly committed, attempted or proposed to be committed by any insured person.

Claims examples

Claims, although relatively infrequent in number, can be significant in cost. Gallagher are able to highlight some recent real-life claims examples for RYA clubs and associations as follows:

Claims example one

In this first example, the insured is a private members RYA club and the claimant was a former member of the insured who was expelled following a disciplinary procedure which investigated a complaint of inappropriate behaviour towards another club member. 

The claimant alleged, amongst other things, that the disciplinary procedure was not conducted in a fair and equitable manner. The claimant sought a "proper disciplinary hearing" either at the club or in court. 

Insurers instructed panel solicitors to advise the insured on defence strategy. The insured’s D&O policy was triggered by this matter and provided cover for those legal costs incurred.

Claims example two

Example two involves another private members RYA club. The claimant had applied for membership with the insured and then threatened to sue the insured for discrimination when it rejected their application.
 
Allegations were directed against senior individuals at the insured, including the club commodore. 

Indemnity was triggered under the insured’s D&O policy and the policy provided cover for the insured’s solicitors’ fees and costs incurred in defending the claim.

Claims example three

Our final example involves an RYA club who, after identifying financial discrepancies in their accounts, conducted a detailed internal investigation.
 
At conclusion, it was established that, over a period of over some six years, the insured’s key financial manager had stolen funds from the insured in a variety of different ways, amounting to a significant financial loss. 

Cover was triggered under the insured’s Gallagher D&O policy (crime extension) and the insured was entitled to a full reimbursement given that the loss was suffered as a direct result of employee theft.

Finding suitable insurance

As the RYA’s official club insurance partner, Gallagher has been endorsed by us for over 40 years, providing specialist products to meet the needs of RYA affiliated clubs, recognised training centres and affiliated organisations.

To find out more about how Gallagher can help you and for further insurance questions, contact the specialist RYA Gallagher team.

Request a call

Or call 0800 612 2282

Information last updated October 2026.

These are brief product descriptions only. Please refer to the policy documentation paying particular attention to the terms and conditions, exclusions, warranties, subjectivities, excesses and any endorsements.

Royal Yachting Association is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: Spectrum Building, 55 Blythswood Street, Glasgow, G2 7AT. Registered in Scotland. Company Number: SC108909.