ST. PAUL, Minn., July 7 A $449 million settlement has been reached between The Travelers Cos. Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., and a former asbestos contractor, ACandS.
Under the agreement announced Friday, Travelers will pay $365 million and its re-insurers will kick in about $84 million to the bankrupt Pennsylvania contractor, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported Saturday. The settlement must still receive approval by a federal bankruptcy court.
ACandS had sought $1.26 billion from Travelers. Insurance companies could wind up paying as much as $65 billion in asbestos-related health claims stemming from the use of the material in insulation for decades, the Insurance Information Institute has said.
Asbestos can cause cancer.
"ACandS has been one of our most significant and longest-standing asbestos exposures," said Jay S. Fishman, Travelers' chairman and chief executive. "Eliminating the uncertainty inherent in this litigation makes this a very good outcome for our company and our shareholders."
It is not known precisely how much money Travelers will pay out on asbestos claims in the long run, but the company had $3.93 billion set aside in net asbestos reserves as of March 31, the newspaper said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
