The latest report on the cost of asbestos disease and mesothelioma shows that the amount of insurance company payouts from settlements and lawsuits continue to spike upward.
A news item in Business Insurance says that A. M. Best, a U.S., insurance industry ratings agency, pegs payouts in 2016 at $3.2 billion, up 9 percent from the year before.
The average annual rise in payouts is $2.4 billion. The total amount of payouts over the past 5 years exceeds $17.6 billion.
This spike contradicts the belief that asbestos and mesothelioma deaths are declining as a factor in the nation’s health.
The report is titled “Asbestos Losses Continue to Rise; Environmental Losses Remain Stable.”
You may have heard that the funds set aside to pay for asbestos and mesothelioma cases are in the area of $30 billion. But the Business Insurance article points out that the amount remaining may only extend about 7 years unless additional funds are added to the reserve.
Those additional funds will be necessary. A.M. Best estimates future asbestos losses for U.S. insurance companies may go as high as $100 billion.
About The Gori Law Firm
We are a mesothelioma firm based in based in Edwardsville, Illinois, identifying mesothelioma victims nationwide and protecting their interests as they grapple with this deadly disease.
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