Liberty Mutual Group said yesterday an external review has foundthe company's exposure to asbestos claims is less than othercommercial insurers, and its reserves do not require furtherstrengthening.

Consulting actuaries noted that the company's asbestos exposurewill be shorter-tailed than that of many commercial insurersbecause the Boston-based carrier mainly wrote primary coverage, andalso benefited from several manuscript policy provisions thatreduced loss limits available to pay asbestos claims, LibertyMutual reported.

The external review, the company said, resulted in an indicatedreserve that was approximately $60 million above Liberty Mutual'scarried reserves as of Sept. 30, 2005.

The primary area of difference is in theincurred-but-not-reported loss estimate, which is for policyholdersthat have not reported claims as of the date of the analysis, theinsurer said.

Liberty Mutual proclaimed itself "comfortable with its thirdquarter best estimate of required asbestos reserves, and thereforewill not adjust its asbestos reserves for any difference betweenthe independent actuarial firm's estimate and the company's carriedreserves, as both estimates are well within the range ofreasonableness."

In the third quarter of 2005, Liberty Mutual strengthenedreserves by $203 million, which was approximately $50 million abovethe point estimate of the company's internal actuaries. It reflectsmanagement's best estimate of the reserve requirement, the companysaid.

Total held reserves for asbestos liabilities (includingallowance for reinsurance on unpaid losses) were $1.194 billion asof Sept. 30, 2005.

The company said further information on its asbestos reserves isobtainable on the Web at www.libertymutual.com/investors.

Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., the parent corporation ofthe Liberty Mutual Group of entities, is a diversified globalinsurer and counts itself the sixth-largest U.S. property-casualtyinsurer.