“As of year-end 2013 the industry had funded slightly more than 90
percent of its aggregate asbestos and environmental exposures. This translates into an unfunded liability of $6.7 billion for asbestos and $3.9 billion for environmental.
“AM Best recognises that fully funding ultimate estimates may be akin to hitting a moving target, given that ultimate exposures cannot be known with precision, especially regarding asbestos claims.”
FROM HERO TO VILLAIN be moulded into many forms and shapes. It could be used to make roof tiles,
There are six forms of asbestos: chrysotile (white asbestos), crocidolite V
eterans of the insurance industry hear the word ‘asbestos’ and go pale. Newcomers might wonder what all the fuss is about, but those with long memories will remember the
causing. Asbestos has not gone away.
“AM Best’s current estimate of net asbestos losses for the US property/ casualty industry remains at $85 billion, with net environmental losses estimated at $42 billion,” Gerard Altonji, assistant vice president, property casualty at AM Best, tells Intelligent Insurer.
(blue asbestos), amosite (brown asbestos), tremolite (green asbestos), actinolite and anthophyllite. All are natural minerals that can be found in deposits underground; when placed under a microscope all can be seen to
lungs. Breathe in a few of them and you’ll never know. Breathe in a lot of them and that’s when the trouble starts. Some are then breathed out themselves in your lungs.
thickenings about 20 to 30 years after exposure.
The second is more serious. In some cases the lungs react by creating
harder to breathe. There is no cure and patients have to depend on oxygen masks and other breathing devices.
The third is mesothelioma, or cancer of the pleura. This is rare and malignant. Unless it is diagnosed early on sufferers can die of this condition amount to dealing with their symptoms and prolonging their lives as long as possible. Asbestos can also cause lung cancer and abdominal cancer. The problem is its ubiquity. There is a good chance that every person now reading many others are also present and how long it takes before your body reacts.
Despite the health hazards involved with asbestos it is still being mined
in Russia and India and asbestos products are still being created. For example, in India roof tiles made with white asbestos are very popular, and ships are still being sent to Indian shipbreaking yards with few if any facilities for dealing with the asbestos they contain.
NO SAFE PLACE An attempt in 2013 to add white asbestos to the UN’s list of hazardous minerals was thwarted by Russia and a group of other countries, when it was claimed by the asbestos industry that white asbestos is ‘safer’ than the other types.
www.intelligentinsurer.com November 2015 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 39
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