Chubb Insurance is not obliged to pay legal bills of almost $660,000 accrued by James Hird, the former coach of AFL club Essendon, according to the Victorian Supreme Court.

Mr Hird’s legal bills followed failed court actions concerning the club’s controversial supplements program.

The court dismissed Mr Hird’s lawsuit, citing insufficient evidence for his contention that he should be covered by the club’s directors’ and officers’ (D&O) policy.

He filed the lawsuit against Chubb after it refused to pay for his failed bid to challenge in the Federal Court the legitimacy of a joint investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the AFL.

Mr Hird and Essendon lost the 2014 case, and Mr Hird later appealed against the Federal Court decision on his own, also losing that action.

Chubb declined to comment on the case and ruling when contacted by insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Law firm Moray & Agnew says the Supreme Court ruling shows the onus is on the insured to gather evidence to support a claim for indemnity in a D&O liability policy.

“Mr Hird failed to show this causal link and consequently was unsuccessful in his claim under the policy for indemnification by Chubb,” associate Stephanie Young said. “The ability of an insured to be indemnified for these costs will depend upon the specific terms of the policy and how it is construed as a whole.

“Further, to establish that defence costs were incurred ’on account of’ an event, such as the underlying inquiry, the insured must show… a causal link between the defence costs incurred and the inquiry.”