Congoleum Reaches Asbestos Settlement with UK Insu
London, England, August 30-- Equitas, the representative for London's Lloyd's commercial insurance, will pay $300 million to six U.S. companies to settle claims related to workers' exposure to asbestos.
Under terms of the agreements, Equitas will pay $19 million to flooring products manufacturer Congoleum Corp., Kaiser Aluminum Corp. $137 million, and engineering group Crane Co. $33 million and to resolve all outstanding insurance claims related to policies sold prior to 1992 by companies operating out of the Lloyd's market.
Equitas will pay an additional $111 million to three U.S. companies whose identities have not been made public.
Asbestos claims center around links made between asbestos exposure and serious illnesses, such as lung cancer. Generally, asbestos claims are filed against the party responsible for the asbestos exposure, such as an employer.
"These settlements benefit both parties," said Glenn Brace, Equitas claims director.
"In reaching these agreements, Equitas has resolved some of its largest claims," he said.
Equitas was established in 1995 to end the clash between Lloyd's, which lost GBP509 million in 1991 over asbestos-claims, and some of its individual investors who refused company demands for cash to compensate for the asbestos-related losses.
Equitas assumed the asbestos-related liabilities of the Lloyd's investors - or Names - who agreed to abstain from any legal action against Lloyd's. The dissenting Names are still being pursued for payment by Lloyd's.
The settlements with Equitas will reduce the potential for additional asbestos-linked insurance claims, and lower the possibility of future lawsuits over asbestos-related illnesses against Lloyd's, the world's oldest and largest insurance market.
Equitas has paid out more than $7 billion since 1996, and is jointly funded by all the companies that operated out of Lloyd's prior to 1992.
The largest single settlement was for $575 million with construction giant Halliburton Co. (HAL) in January 2004.
