Lloyd's Equitas Settles $200 Million In Asbestos Claims
Date: 07-Jan-05
Country: UK
One of the settlements is with Dana Corp., a US auto-parts supplier that was one of Equitas's three biggest direct liabilities. Further settlements should follow, the reinsurer said in a statement.
The deals settle all claims against underwriters at Lloyd's of London, the world's oldest insurance market, under policies taken out by Dana and the other claimants to cover asbestos and other liabilities.
"We are in negotiations with other major policyholders and are confident that they will also result in settlements," Simon Wright, Equitas's head of asbestos pollution and health hazard claims, said in the statement.
Equitas has announced more than $1.2 billion of settlements since the start of last year and has negotiated other undisclosed deals. The reinsurer is working to settle Lloyd's asbestos liabilities, which were estimated at $7.4 billion in March.
Asbestos was widely used as a fireproofing and insulation material until the 1970s. Scientists say inhaled fibres are linked to cancer and other diseases.
Claims settled last year included a $118 million agreement with EnPro Industries and a $245 million deal with Travelers Property Casualty Corp..
The Dana deal will be a further source of relief to the Lloyd's market and its former capital providers, known as Names, who are still potentially liable for more money in the event that Equitas runs out of cash.
Equitas was set up in 1996 to deal with massive exposure to asbestos and other claims that brought Lloyd's to the brink of extinction. It effectively assumed all the market's pre-1993 liabilities so that Lloyd's could keep underwriting.
