Liability insurance

The handling of asbestos claims

The insolvency of T&N, as a result of the massive potential liability faced by that firm in respect of the exposure of employees to asbestos, has given rise to much litigation in England. Freakley v Centre Reinsurance International Co [2004] EWHC 2740 (Ch), a decision of David Richards J, involved a proposed plan of reorganisation developed under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The issues for the English court concerned the reconciliation of this plan with the rights of claimants against T&N and with the rights of the reinsurers of T&N’s liability insurers.