Asbestos exposure is causing a growing rift between insurers and reinsurers, according to a report by Standard & Poor's.
S&P managing director said: "Disputes between insurers and reinsurers appear to be intensifying. The tone is getting ugly."
The report claimed that the reinsurance community has not shouldered the asbestos burden expected of it, following massive increases in reserves.
Director John Iten said: "Across the industry, the difference between net and gross numbers raises all sorts of questions about who's ceding what to whom.
"It's smoke and mirrors. The liabilities are disappearing into thin air, and nobody's capturing them."
The report said several prominent players have stepped up reserve additions, sometimes accompanied by S&P rating actions.
But it said reinsurers have not matched these exposures with increases in their own reserves because insurers are failing to inform them about the level of reimbursement they are expected to come up with.
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