Marsh & McLennan to J-M on No Asbestosis Surcharge in Its Workmen's Compensation Rates (1959)

A one-page letter of April 2, 1959, from the insurance brokers Marsh & McLennan in New York to Mr. Schmidt, insurance manager of Johns-Manville Corporation, about J-M's workmen's compensation policy with the Travelers Insurance Company. It confirms "that the Travelers Insurance Company has applied no surcharge to your rates for Asbestosis," and that the rates in J-M's contract were the manual rates, "modified by your experience modifications."

About this copy

The copy is heavily speckled, and the name of the Marsh & McLennan employee who signed the letter cannot be read.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Marsh & McLennan writes J-M, on 4/2/59, to confirm that J-M's workmen's compensation rates for contract workers do not include a surcharge for asbestosis. The rates found in J-M's workmen's compensation contract are manual, modified by J-M's experience modifications.

Editor's note: J-M's description says the letter concerns compensation rates for contract workers. The letter does not mention contract workers; it confirms that Travelers applied no asbestosis surcharge to J-M's rates.