Owens-Corning/Fibreboard Trust

The Owens-Corning/Fibreboard Trust is a court-supervised bankruptcy trust created to pay current and future asbestos personal injury claims against Owens Corning and its subsidiary Fibreboard Corporation. Both companies manufactured or sold asbestos-containing products, most notably Owens Corning's Kaylo pipe and block insulation and Fibreboard's Pabco insulation, and used the Chapter 11 process to consolidate their asbestos liabilities into a single payment system. The trust evaluates claims under published medical and exposure criteria and pays qualifying claimants a percentage of the scheduled value for their disease category.

Origin

Owens Corning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2000, largely driven by the cost of asbestos litigation involving Kaylo, a calcium-silicate insulation it sold from 1953 until the early 1970s. Fibreboard, which Owens Corning had acquired in 1997, brought its own large asbestos liability into the case. The combined trust was established under the company's 2006 plan of reorganization, which became effective under Section 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For many patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis from insulation work done between the 1950s and 1970s, Owens Corning Kaylo and Fibreboard Pabco are among the most commonly identified product exposures, which makes this trust one of the more significant sources of compensation in a typical claim package. Recovery does not require a lawsuit or trial. Your attorneys file a claim with the trust along with medical records and exposure evidence (work history, co-worker statements, product identification). The trust pays a fixed "payment percentage" of the scheduled disease value, which has changed over time as the trust manages its assets against projected future claims, so the amount recovered today may differ from amounts recovered in earlier years. Filing a trust claim typically does not prevent you from also suing solvent defendants who are still in the tort system.

Example Sentence

Because her husband worked as a steamfitter installing Kaylo pipe covering in the 1960s, the attorney explained that the Owens-Corning/Fibreboard Trust was likely to be one of several trust claims filed on behalf of the estate.

Related Terms

524(g) Trust, Bankruptcy Trust Claim, Kaylo, Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP), Payment Percentage, Manville Trust

Notes

• Gather and preserve any documentation of work near Owens Corning Kaylo or Fibreboard Pabco products, old pay stubs, union records, job-site assignments, and names of co-workers who can confirm product use.
• Ask your attorney which disease category (Level I–VIII under the trust's TDP) your diagnosis qualifies for and what scheduled value and current payment percentage apply; this directly determines the amount.
• If you have a malignant diagnosis (mesothelioma or lung cancer), make sure your pathology report, imaging, and any biopsy results are obtained and shared with counsel early, since the trust requires specific medical documentation.
• Trust claims have deadlines tied to your diagnosis date and, in some cases, the date of death; do not delay consulting an attorney about which trusts may apply to your exposure history.