Reinsurers Spared Asbestos Clms

Thursday, November 1st, 2001 Liability Property

Up until 1998, the U.S. insurance industry experienced a flat-to-slightly-decreasing trend in asbestos claims and payments, demonstrated by the fact that in 1995, the industry’s asbestos payments were $1.3 billion compared to $1.0 billion in 1998, or a decrease of approximately 20 percent. However, this trend dramatically reversed itself in 1999 and 2000, in which the industry’s payments increased by approximately 50 percent. (Table 1 displays the historical industry paid losses over the last six years.) The number of defendants and filed claims has also risen. Today, more than 2000 companies are defendants in asbestos lawsuits as compared to about 300 in the 1980s.

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http://www.nationalunderwriter.com/archives/Pc_archive/2001/P09-03/P200136reinsurers.asp

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