By Maria Chutchian
(Reuters) – Insurance company Hartford Financial Services Group Inc said on Tuesday it has entered into a new agreement with the Boy Scouts of America and a majority of sexual abuse claimants to pay $787 million, before tax, in settlements.
In exchange for The Hartford’s payment, the Boy Scouts and its local councils will fully release the company from any obligation under policies that were mostly issued in the 1970s, the insurer said. Hartford expects to take a $137 million pretax charge in the third quarter for the higher payout.
The Hartford’s settlement is subject to approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein, who oversees the Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy.
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2020 after being hit with a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits. The Boy Scouts face 82,500 claims of sexual abuse in the bankruptcy.
Tuesday’s agreement replaces the Boy Scouts’ prior deal with The Hartford, under which the insurer said it would contribute $650 million.
Last month, Silverstein approved the Boy Scouts’ $850 million settlement with representatives of around 70,000 abuse claimants. That deal is backed by 250 local councils. The organization has not yet announced any deal with its other major insurer, Century Indemnity Co.
The Boy Scouts have said they are committed to fulfilling their “social and moral responsibility to equitably compensate survivors.”
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru and Maria Chutchian in New York; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Matthew Lewis)
