The Victorian Full Federal Court has recently clarified the operation of a professional services exclusion within a D&O policy in Chubb Insurance Company of Australia Limited v Robinson [2016] FC AFC 17.

This case demonstrates that a professional services exclusion cannot be expected to exclude all risks that ordinarily fall for cover under a professional indemnity policy and that its ambit will depend on the intended purpose of the policy. In light of the decision, insurers may need to review their professional services exclusions to assess whether “professional services” should be defined and to the extent possible, make the professional service exclusion referrable to the insured’s specific PI policy.

Patrick Boardman (Partner) and Dean Pinto (Senior Associate) discuss the decision and its implications for insurers in more detail. Click on the link below to read the full update.