yes, this arose about the sex abuse scandal in the RCC. that is, however, irrelevant.
A BBC article referred to the practice, apparently common, of insuring the church against, among other things, sexual abuse by Priests.
Am I getting this right? Insurance to cover liability in the event that an employee/agent damages somebody by committing a crime?
I thought ALL E&O policies would exclude willful criminal actions.
So, could I incorporate, hire myself as an employee, buy an E&O/whatever policy, and steal any/everything I could get my hands on, and the insurance would cover any tort action which would arise?
Well, an E&O policy definitionally does not cover willful acts: it after all applies to “errors” and “omissions” – in other words, negligent conduct.
That said, you can insure for or against anything, assuming you can find a company to write the policy. There is nothing per se illegal in insuring against intentional acts, though it is very uncommon.
In my jurisdiction (Canada) you cannot insure yourself against committing criminal acts. However, as an employer, you can insure yourself against civil liability triggered by employees who commit criminal acts, which is what I would assume the OP refers to.
An employer can be civilly liable for failing to supervise employees properly. So, if an employee commits a criminal offence while on the job, and the employer can be shown to have known about the employee’s propensities, then the employer may be civilly liable. Insurance can cover that civil liability, since the employer has not itself committed a criminal act - it has failed to prevent criminal acts by its employee.
