Deficient Claims Policy

Posted 11/22/2010:
The Trust can deem a claim withdrawn after the claim has been deficient and remains in a deficient status for six (6) months. Upon written request and for good cause, the Trust may extend this period for an additional six (6) months. After the extended period, the Trust will deem the claim withdrawn.

The initial six month time period will begin to run on December 1, 2010. If your firm has claims in a deficient status, you have until May 31, 2011 to resubmit the claim curing the deficiencies. You may request in writing an additional six month period for good cause, or withdraw the claim. The claim may be withdrawn and then resubmitted with an additional $250 filing fee. If none of these options are chosen, the Trust will deem the claim withdrawn and notify your firm.

According to the Trust Distribution Procedures, the existing statute of limitations for the claim will not be affected by the withdrawal, only its place in the FIFO queue. “A claimant may withdraw a Trust Claim at any time upon written notice to the Trust and file another claim subsequently without affecting the status of the claim for statute of limitations purposes, but any such claim filed after withdrawal shall be given a place in the FIFO Processing Queue based the date of such subsequent filing. TDP Section 6.3.

Verification of Interrogatories by Claimant or Heir

Posted 11/22/2010:
At the November 18, 2010 Trustees’ meeting, the Trustees, with the consent of the Futures Representative and the Trust Advisory Committee (Trust Fiduciaries) adopted a new policy regarding verification of interrogatories.

The policy is as follows:

For all claims filed with the Trust on or after December 1, 2010, the interrogatories must be verified by the claimant or heir. Any claim submitted without verified interrogatories will be returned to the firm with a deficiency letter.

Updated Notice Regarding Medicare Reporting

Posted 11/01/2010:
This will update the Trust’s notice posted on October 20, 2009, concerning the 2007 Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act (“Act”) and the required reporting of information to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) regarding payments made to Medicare recipients.  In February 2010, the Trust received updated guidance from CMS indicating that the Trust is not a reporting entity under the Act.  As a result of the updated guidance, the Trust cancelled its registration as a reporting entity.Posted 05/07/2010:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a hearing on the motion to approve Western Asbestos Settlement Trust’s Sixth Annual Report and Accounting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 15, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. before United States Bankruptcy Judge, Leslie Tchaikovsky, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division, located at 1300 Clay Street, Room 201, Oakland, California  94604. View 2009 Annual Report

Consumption Guidelines for Wrongful Death Claims

Posted 04/28/2010:
The Trust documents allow claims to receive the benefit of up to $200,000 (base case) in economic loss without additional documents.  If a wrongful death claim requests economic loss in excess of the $200,000, the report from the economist must take into consideration the lack of consumption by the deceased.  In determining whether a deduction for consumption is appropriate, any claim which qualifies as a “living” claim under the Claims Valuation Matrix shall not be subject to a consumption deduction.  In cases claiming additional economic loss, it is likely the Trust will request additional back-up documents supporting the economist’s conclusions.

Reminder Concerning Hold Claims Policy

Posted 03/01/2010:
As you may recall, the Trust implemented the new hold policy in September 2009.  A notice was sent to the firms and it was posted on the Web site on September 14, 2009.  The policy stated that the Trust can deem a claim withdrawn after the claim has been placed on hold and remains in the hold status for over six (6) months. The initial six month time period began running on October 1, 2009, so if your firm had claims on hold as of October 1, 2009, and those claims have remained on hold since that date, you have until April 30, 2010 to resubmit the claim with a complete claim packet (claim form and supporting documents). The Trust will not extend the time period without show of good cause.  The claim may be withdrawn and then resubmitted with an additional $250 filing fee.  If none of these options are chosen, the Trust will deem the claim withdrawn and notify your firm.

Western Asbestos Payment Percentage Increase

Posted 02/25/2010:
The Trustees, with the consent of the TAC and the Futures Representative, have increased the Payment Percentage to 44% of the total liquidated claim value. After necessary updates to the claims processing system and payment procedures have been completed, claims will be paid in accordance with this change. All eligible previously paid claims, including pre-petition liquidated claims, should receive the additional amounts due as a result of this Payment Percentage increase by the end of May, 2010.