Two more insurance companies have agreed to sign on to a deal that will bring sexual abuse victims’ potential payout in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s long-running chapter 11 bankruptcy to more than $126 million, the Rochester Beacon reported. Negotiations involving the diocese, abuse survivors and insurance companies that wrote liability policies for the diocese when the decades-old abuses occurred have delayed a resolution of the case for nearly four years. The liability carriers will ultimately foot most of the final bill. In a July 21 court filing, the diocese notes agreements by the Interstate Insurance Co. to pay $50 million and First Insurance Co. to pay $750,000. The two insurers’ long-awaited capitulation moves the bankruptcy a tantalizing step closer to resolution. But one company, Continental Insurance, known as CNA, is stubbornly refusing to sign on to a settlement that the diocese and all other insurers have now agreed to, a holdout that could augur further delay in survivors’ payout.
