Asbestos Trust Funds

Filing begins with determining which companies in the claimant’s (the asbestos exposure victim’s) occupational history are responsible for their disease. During filing, claimants select the method of review as either expedited or individual.

There are two types of reviews for asbestos trust fund claims and then two additional steps to the trust fund process once a review concludes:

Expedited Reviews — These reviews settle claims quickly and the payout is a fixed value. Claimants use this procedure when they know the fixed value and meet a set of criteria established by the trust, providing medical evidence and occupational history. If the evidence is sufficient, the claim is valid and the process proceeds to liquidation. If not, claimants can file an individual review.

Individual Reviews — These reviews are required when claimants do not fall within the typical criteria set up by the trust for an expedited review. Payout values for individual claims might vary compared to the fixed values established for expedited claims. The individual review process and the result is usually based on special circumstances of a case, such as a claimant being diagnosed young, having minor children or losing earnings. In these cases, claims tend to be higher.

Extraordinary claims — These are special cases where the claim meets the criteria of an expedited claim, but liquidation is allowed to be determined like an individual claim. These claims are used in cases where the claimant was a victim of one specific company under certain employment circumstances, such as being an employee who worked for the company for a significant amount of time (30 years, for example).

Liquidation is the assignment of a monetary value to the claim. When filed as expedited and valid, claims already have a monetary value scheduled by the trust. Liquidation for individual claims, on the other hand, is determined by negotiation of the trustee and the claimant’s mesothelioma lawyer.

After an offer is made and accepted, payment is the final step of the procedure.

Payment Percentages — To prevent an asbestos trust fund from running out of funds, trustees established “payment percentages” for claimants. Some trusts are unable to pay claimants 100 percent of their claim amount. Instead, they will pay claimants a specific percentage of their claim.

Payment percentages are different for each trust. Some trusts have a payment percentage of 100 percent, while others have low payment percentages of 1 to 2 percent. If a claim is hypothetically liquidated at $100,000 with a payment percentage of 25 percent, the trust would pay the claimant $25,000.

These payment percentages also fluctuate. If payment percentages increase, many trusts will pay prior claimants to make up the difference. If a percentage decreases, then prior claimants do not have to pay back the difference. Due to this structure, there is no benefit to waiting to file a trust fund claim. Claimants should start the process as soon as possible without worrying about the percentages dropping and them having to return their compensation.