MetLife Solely Responsible For Asbestos-Related Claims.Connecticut's highest court ruled that Travelers Casualty & Surety An individual who undertakes an obligation to pay a sum of money or to perform some duty or promise for another in the event that person fails to act. surety n. Co. and other insurers are not obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to help pay asbestos-related claims against Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. The state Supreme Court rejected a MetLife appeal of a lower court decision that ruled MetLife's insurers are not liable for payments of about 200,000 asbestos-related claims against the NewYork-based MetLife. The legal question for MetLife in the case was whether the separate claims involving asbestos asbestos, mineral asbestos, common name for any of a variety of silicate minerals within the amphibole and serpentine groups that are fibrous in structure and more or less resistant to acid and fire. constituted a single occurrence or multiple occurrences. If, as MetLife claimed, the cases constituted a single occurrence, MetLife's insurers would be liable to cover damages beyond a threshold of $25 million. If the claims are defined as multiple occurrences, the threshold would apply to each claim separately. MetLife argued that all the asbestos-related claims against it constituted a single occurrence because all the cases resulted from MetLife's "failure to warn" its policyholders of the dangers of asbestos exposure. The Supreme Court rejected this argument, noting that the asbestos claims originated from more than one work site and from exposures over a period of 60 years, both of which invalidate in·val·i·date tr.v. in·val·i·dat·ed, in·val·i·dat·ing, in·val·i·dates To make invalid; nullify. in·val the "single occurrence" guideline guideline Medtalk A series of recommendations by a body of experts in a particular discipline. See Cancer screening guidelines, Cardiac profile guidelines, Gatekeeper guidelines, Harvard guidelines, Transfusion guidelines. . |
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