5 Case Studies in Liability Disasters

It’s simply human nature to think that no harm will ever come, or hit close to home.  Unfortunately, things go wrong from time to time. Because the unexpected is possible at any given moment, it’s vital to have insurance, business insurance, liability insurance, and professional liability insurance for the best prevention possible.  As the old saying goes, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

It pays to have property, auto, and life insurance for personal protection. On the business side, it's just as important to have things like casualty, property, professional liability, and general liability insurance in order to protect the personal and financial assets of the company. Having these insurance plans in place can be the difference between success and bankruptcy. (http://techinsurance.com/coverage/liability_protection.aspx)   
 
Regrettably, it’s often difficult to realize the importance of having a prevention plan in place until disaster strikes. Many know that having coverage is important, and yet, still do not make the proper moves to protect themselves from unforeseen catastrophe. The following is a list of five case studies where the lack of sufficient insurance, liability insurance, or professional liability insurance resulted in crippling a company.  These case studies will present you with the necessary information on how your company is at stake without proper insurance coverage. (http://techinsurance.com/coverage/liability_protection.aspx)   

Federal-Mogul

Federal-Mogul is a large automotive parts manufacturer headquartered in Southfield Michigan. In 2001, the company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of the amount of liability it was facing from asbestos claims made by workers who came into contact with the substance when handling various different automotive parts. Much of these claims were made to cover liability associated with asbestos-related sickness, including cancer.

The problems suffered by Federal-Mogul were multifaceted with respect to liability insurance. In reality, the company acquired companies that were already facing liability as a result of asbestos-related claims.  

The dilemma with Federal-Mogul wasn't that these companies didn't have liability insurance; it was whether or not they had the right type of liability insurance, and whether or not they could protect themselves from things like professional liability. Federal-Mogul thought they were covered, but soon found that they were not.  

Federal-Mogul was under the notion that they could use a multi-faceted strategy to beat asbestos-related liability claims. The plan was to fight in the courts and lobby Congress for changes in legislation affecting liability claims. That approach caused them to lose in court.

In 2001, Federal-Mogul was forced to claim Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Fortunately, the bankruptcy actually helped the company rebuild itself financially, and is currently running strong today. Alas, they could have avoided losses to their company, and their reputation, if they didn’t take a risk on their liability insurance and professional liability strategies. Indeed, leaving things at risk is what costs companies with respect to insurance time and time again. (http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/20/business/fi-rup20.6) (http://www.asbestosnetwork.com/news/nw_012908_asbestos_bankruptcy.htm)  

Union Carbide (http://chronicle.com/news/article/4856/liability-concerns-spike-union-carbides-land-donation-to-west-virginia-u)

The Bhopal disaster is perhaps one of the most famous examples of corporate catastrophe. It serves as a first-rate case study surrounding issues of liability insurance and professional liability.

Back in 1984, a pesticide plant owned by a Union Carbide subsidiary released 40 tons of MIC gas into the atmosphere, killing between 2500 and 5000 people. Some speculate that the death toll may have been even higher than reported.   

Understandably, Union Carbide was facing countless losses due to liability claims coming from the injured and families of the deceased. Regrettably, they did not have the proper liability insurance to cover these losses.  Millions in court were spent by Union Carbide fighting some of these initial legal battles.

While the Bhopal incident provides a great case study in liability insurance and professional liability, business text books across the world cite it as an example of how not to deal with issues of risk management. The proper assessment of risk would have evaded such a monumental catastrophe.

Luckily for Union Carbide, they were able to settle all claims with the Indian government for a cost of $470 million. Although Union Carbide could have avoided paying the $470 million by engaging in a proper strategy involving liability insurance and risk management, they in reality saved money by passing through the litigation process.

The Exxon Valdez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill)

The Exxon Valdez is yet another famed case of corporate calamity dealing with the issues of liability insurance and professional liability. It supplies a solid example of why liability insurance is so significant for executives and business professionals at all levels.

The Exxon Valdez was an oil cargo ship that hit a reef in the Prince William Sound off the coast of Alaska. The huge oil spill ended up costing Exxon in excess of $2.5 billion in punitive damages to the people affected by the spill in the area. Some of the legal issues involved are still being fought today, even after the initial payout of $5 billion was brought down to $2.5 billion.

The Exxon Valdez disaster further illustrated the importance of both liability insurance and risk management at the executive level. Executives at Exxon Valdez face professional liability costs as a result of poorly executed decision making for the liability of the company.  

The Savings and Loan Crisis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis)

The late eighties and early nineties saw one of the worst financial crises in American history, with a total cost of around $160 billion. Accounting firms are still litigating concerns contiguous to the liability insurance and professional liability of the case, and it’s yet another instance of the gravity of having the proper insurance in place.

Savings and loan companies were fundamentally poorly regulated financial institutions dating back to the 1800's. In a nutshell, these companies gave out bad loans, and were left on the hook for billions of dollars. In fact, the federal government ended up paying out over $120 billion in taxpayer money simply to supplement the severity of the situation.   

Because they face liability for not having audited these Savings and Loans companies properly, accounting firms are still being sued today.  

The proper liability insurance and professional liability insurance could have helped the situation tremendously, but even simple risk management, competence, and integrity could have easily prevented liability payments into the millions, or billions of dollars.

The Enron Scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal)

The Enron Scandal is one of the most recent and renowned illustrations of corporate giants going astray adjoining the issues of liability insurance and professional liability. Similar to the Savings and Loans Crisis, the liability matters didn’t merely stop with Enron.  Instead, the issues also pertained to firms associated with Enron.

Arthur Anderson was the accounting firm held responsible for fraud perpetuated on countless investors and Enron pension plan holders.  Both Enron and Arthur Anderson were seen as responsible for “cooking the books” and deceiving the public about the state of their finances. Top executives from both firms were implicated in the scandal.

Investment banks are still being sued today for having sold investments involving Enron; further exposing the issues surrounding liability insurance and professional liability.  Undeniably, it’s important for businesses at all levels to address insurance concerns in a timely and proper manner.

About the Author: 

James Cochran is the founder of Techinsurance. Since 1997, Techihsurance.com has been providing high quality professional liability insurance at a reasonable price to IT firms across the nation. They quickly became a leader in providing business liability insurance, and have since maintained their position as one of the top IT business insurance providers.