Equitas pays £167m to settle US asbestos claims
Equitas pays £167m to settle US asbestos claims
Equitas, the company set up to assume Lloyd's of London's massive liability exposures, said this week it had settled some of its largest remaining direct liabilities with a $300 million (£167.1 million) payout to six major policy holders to settle US asbestos-related claims. 'These settlements benefit both parties. In reaching these agreements, Equitas has resolved some of its largest claims,' Glenn Brace, claims director at Equitas, said in a statement. Equitas was set up in the mid-1990s to take over and pay off Lloyd's huge pre-1993 exposures, largely to asbestos claims, which threatened to bankrupt the world's oldest insurance market. Equitas effectively assumed all the market's pre-1993 liabilities so that Lloyd's could continue underwriting. Equitas has been able to reduce its asbestos exposure by making upfront cash settlements worth hundreds of millions of dollars with some of its biggest claimants. Since April 2001, Equitas has paid over $2.9 billion (£1.6bn) in 35 major asbestos settlements. In June, Equitas said it had theoretical asbestos reserves of £3.4 billion (£1.9bn) at March 31. The US does not have a ban on asbestos products.
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