Asbestos Payouts Surge, Bankruptcies Grow
Tuesday, March 30th, 2004 LiabilityIncreased claim filings, awards to unimpaired plaintiffs, bankruptcies and significant reserve additions by insurers are key issues in the mass of litigation surrounding asbestos liabilities, a session at the Casualty Actuarial Society’s Seminar on Ratemaking was told. Jennifer Biggs, a principal of the Tillinghast business of Towers Perrin, an actuarial consulting firm, said that the asbestos litigation environment has changed, increasing costs to defendants due to the surge in claim filings, elevated settlement demands against individual defendants and the growing number of asbestos-related bankruptcies. Insurers and reinsurers are also facing increasing costs because of the higher costs for existing defendants, additional costs for new defendants and the accessibility of additional coverage, she observed.
