14.11 Duties to Non-Clients

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

14.11 Duties to Non-Clients. The general rule in Arizona is that absent special circumstances, professionals, including insurance producers, owe no duty to non-clients.¹⁵⁶ To establish a duty, the non-client must be a foreseeable and specific third party that the professional knows has relied on him for protection from a foreseeable risk of specific harm. ¹⁵⁷

An insurance producer’s obligations to his client are for the client’s benefit.¹⁵⁸ Thus, an insurance producer owes no obligation to recommend optional coverages or higher limits to his client for the benefit of third parties.¹⁵⁹ Even where the insured may be required to procure a certain kind of coverage to protect his customers, and the insurance producer would have a duty to the insured to assist in procuring that coverage, this does not create an obligation for the insurance producer to the insured’s customers.¹⁶⁰

Nevertheless, insurance...