Insuring against a crisis

To cope with the major commercial and reputational risk that defective products pose, businesses need to put product safety and wider quality at the centre of their risk management strategies. Simply relying on insurance is not an option. Recalls or rectification programmes are generally not covered and of course a poor claims record for safety or damage problems can lead to substantial premium rises. Defective products can also give rise to serious criminal prosecutions and all the adverse publicity that can entail.