Coverage for deliberate acts I

The distressing facts of KR v Royal & Sun Alliance plc [2006] EWHC 48 (QB) raised the question of whether a liability policy taken out by a company, which excludes cover in respect of deliberate acts, extends to acts carried out by the controller of the company. Simon J’s conclusion, that the exclusion was inoperative, was based on a distinction between the negligent conduct of the company in not preventing abuse rather than deliberate acts of abuse committed on behalf of the company.