A sizable number of Aon clients have accepted the Chicago-based brokerage's offer to settle claims that the firm improperly steered them to insurers who made undisclosed bonus fee arrangements.
Al Orendorff, director of public relations for Aon, said 74 percent of the $190 million, or about $140 million, is expected to be paid out to clients as per the terms of an agreement reached last March with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Aon is still calculating the actual number of clients who have accepted. No firm figure is available because some received more than one settlement notice based on their insurance placements. Of Aon's top 1,000 clients, more than 90 percent have accepted the agreement, said Mr. Orendorff.
"It is our position that the individuals who have accepted the offer of settlement waive their right to pursue further compensation from Aon," he added.
The settlement, reached last March with Mr. Spitzer, created a restitution fund for clients, with payments to be made over three years. The broker also agreed to a number of internal reforms, including no longer accepting contingency fees. The settlement stemmed from Mr. Spitzer's probe into bid-rigging and steering of contracts in return for volume-based bonus commissions.
Aon admitted no guilt or wrongdoing in the settlement agreement that ended Mr. Spitzer's investigation into the firm. However, Patrick Ryan, the company's founder and then chief executive officer, did issue an apology for any company misconduct. The agreement also ended probes in Connecticut and Illinois.
Mr. Orendorff said any money left in the fund would be added to a $38 million class-action settlement with Alan Daniel and the Williamson County Agricultural Association, also over alleged steering.
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