Figuring out whether the insurance companies have the assets necessary to pay out is never a simple matter. They don't have the assets to pay out if every polic

Figuring out whether the insurance companies have the assets necessary to pay out is never a simple matter. They don't have the assets to pay out if every policy is fully claimed at once, almost by definition, which means that it's a complicated matter of assessing how many policies are likely to be claimed at once, which requires figuring out details like whether the construction industry is making widespread use of a potentially dangerous material. Insuring the insurers can only help so much; Lloyd's was the insurers' insurer of last resort, and as dalke points out asbestos claims wreaked havoc on them.