Creditors of the five insolvent London market insurance companies collectively known as KWELM will receive payment of a further $770m in December 2005.
KWELM said in a statement that the average payment to creditors has increased from 64% in May of this year to 88.7%. This compares with an average return of only 40% which was expected when the original scheme of arrangement was launched in late 1993.
Creditors of the largest company, Walbrook Insurance, will be paid in full.
The increased distribution follows the successful implementation of an Amending Scheme of Arrangement which introduced an earlier closure process including a claims bar date and was approved by creditors of the companies and the courts in 2004.
Joint Scheme Administrators Chris Hughes and Ian Bond said: "The run off commenced in 1992 against a background of great uncertainty, particularly in respect of pollution and asbestos claims, limited expectations of the ultimate pay out and a timescale which extended beyond 2015. We are very pleased that progress and payouts have been more rapid and higher than expected."
The KWELM comapnies are subsidiaries of the failed London United Investments and comprise Kingscroft Insurance, Walbrook Insurance, El Paso Insurance, Lime Street Insurance and Mutual Reinsurance. They specialised in US casualty, professional indemnity and other liability insurance business.
KWELM added that in addition to the revised payouts, the administrators expect to make a further small distribution of between 1% and 3% within the next three years as the run off team collects residual reinsurance and concludes the run off.
