Insurers warned to expect a sharp increase in asbestos-related claims as Equitas settles the largest single claim it faced for asbestos-related diseases.

Insurers are being warned that the UK - along with other developed countries - in on the verge of an asbestos disease epidemic.

According to the British Medical Journal, 100,000 people who are alive now will die from mesothelioma. The cancer, which can take as long as 50 years to develop, is caused by the inhalation of asbestos.

The disease claims the lives of 1,800 people in the UK each year. However doctors predict the death rates will rocket in the years ahead.

Equitas, the Lloyd's of London reinsurer, yesterday settled the largest single claim it faced for asbestos-related diseases, as it agreed to pay £317m to Halliburton, the oilfields services company.

The reinsurer said the payment would cover all current and future claims made by Halliburton against its Lloyd's insurers. It was set up by Lloyd's in 1996 to cover the market's pre-1992 non-life liabilities.

Equitas claims director Glenn Brace said: "Our mission is to resolve claims at the right price and at the earliest possible time. Asbestos is the single greatest exposure we have."

The reinsurer's total estimated liabilities are £9.6bn, of which £5.3bn is related to asbestos. In 2003 it was forced to boost its reserves against asbestos claims by £400m. The increase in claims has forced Equitas to increase its reserves by £3.8bn over the past four years.

Thousands of people were exposed to asbestos between the 1950s and 1970s, when the material was widely used as an insulator in buildings and industry. This was before its health risks became known.

Builders, plumbers and shipyard workers are most likely to have been exposed to it. Teachers and nurses are also believed to have been at risk since asbestos was used in the construction of several schools and hospitals.

The original targets for litigation, asbestos producers, have largely gone out of business. Workers seeking recompense for exposure to the deadly fibre have started suing secondary companies.