The Durabla Manufacturing Company and Durabla Canada Ltd. Asbestos Trust (“Trust”) has been preparing to commence accepting claims filings. The Trust faces great uncertainty in the prediction of both the number and severity of claims that will be filed and the amount of assets available to pay those claims. Because of this uncertainty, the Trust Distribution Procedures were amended, after consultation with, and with the consent of, the TAC[1] and FCR[2] , to provide for an initial three-year and six-month period during which the Trust will receive claims for filing (the “Initial Intake Period”). During the Initial Intake Period, no claims will be processed or paid.
The initial Intake Period began on September 8, 2020 and will therefore end on March 8, 2024 at the close of business. At the conclusion of the Initial Intake Period, the Trust will determine the payment percentage and consider any additional actions necessary to fulfill the purposes of the Trust. A claims processing fee may be required prior to the processing of any filed claims. Should you need to file a claim to toll the relevant Statute of Limitations you must do so by the close of business on March 8, 2024. Please note that if you wish to file those claims via Simple Batch you will need to provide a test batch to CRMC for approval which may take some time. For additional information, click here.
As noted in a prior announcement just a minimal set of data is required to file with the Trust at this time. An SOL tolling date is set once the data has been saved. You will see that date on the Claim Detail Page. Once the payment percentage has been determined the Trust will work with CRMC to develop the policies and procedures for the Trust and to modify the Eclaims system to accommodate Durabla claims. We will keep you updated throughout this process so please check the CRMC website regularly.
[1] 1 Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Trust Agreement and the Trust Distribution Procedures.,
[2] Pursuant to Sections 2.2(f)(xii), 5.7, and 6.6 of the Trust Agreement.