Several tort claims were made against T & N Limited (“the Insured”) arising out of its use of asbestos. As a consequence it became unlikely to be able to pay its debts. Administrators were appointed for the purposes of approving a scheme of arrangement under section 425 of the Companies Act 1985.
The State of New Jersey Appellate Court ruled that the final dividend plan (“FDP”) proposed by the liquidator for Integrity Insurance Company (“Integrity”) was invalid in part because incurred but not reported (“IBNR”) claims were improperly included in the valuation of claims by its policyholders. As background, Integrity wrote umbrella and excess liability insurance policies which covered long-tail liabilities prone to significant IBNR. These underlying policies were reinsured by various companies. In 1987, Integrity was placed into liquidation with over 26,000 policyholder claims filed.