LONDON (Reuters) - Equitas, the company set up to assume Lloyd’s of London’s multi-billion-dollar liability exposures, said on Tuesday it had settled some of its largest remaining direct liabilities with a $300 million (167.1 million pound) payment.
Equitas has agreed to pay six major policyholders,
including manufacturers Kaiser Aluminium Corp
"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.
"We continue to seek comprehensive settlements and are currently in negotiations with other major policyholders. We are hopeful that these negotiations will result in further agreements in the coming months."
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Equitas said its settlements with Kaiser Aluminium and Congoleum are subject to conditions related to the pending bankruptcy proceedings of those companies.
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
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 in 35 major asbestos settlements.
In June, Equitas said it had theoretical asbestos reserves of 3.4 billion pounds at March 31.
Asbestos is a cancer-causing mineral fibre that was used in a wide variety of products, including gas masks, in the United States and Britain until the 1970s.
