NU Online News Service, Aug. 15, 1:39 p.m. EDT
Recent disclosures by three insurance companies regarding increased asbestos claims are a "warning flag" for those companies and the U.S. property and casualty industry as a whole, according to Moody's Investors Service.
In its Weekly Credit Outlook, Moody's notes that The Hartford, MetLife and American Financial Group have all said asbestos claims increased over the last two weeks. The Hartford reports a pre-tax charge of $290 million due to increased asbestos reserves, and American Financial reports a pre-tax charge of $28 million. MetLife did not disclose the impact on its reserve estimates, Moody's says, but the company did say that new asbestos claims increased by around 14 percent during the 2011 first half relative to the same time period in 2010.
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