The Hartford has reached a new agreement with the Boy Scouts of America requiring the property and casualty insurer to pay $787 million to help settle sex abuse claims levied against the embattled youth organization.
The new figure — which The Hartford said was also endorsed by the BSA’s local councils and the majority of the sex abuse claimaints — is $137 million more than the $650 million settlement it advanced in April. That earlier offer did not include the councils or the litigants.
In exchange for the company’s payment, the BSA and its local councils have agreed to release The Hartford from any further obligations on the policies they hold. Representatives for a majority of the sex abuse claimants have also agreed to a broader restructuring of the Boy Scouts organization that includes the settlement as one of its key provisions.
The parties expect the settlement to receive approval from the courts some time later this year, according to officials with The Hartford.
The Boy Scouts, reeling from hundreds of lawsuits alleging the organization’s negligence failed to stop sexual abuse by Scout leaders, sued The Hartford in 2018 in an attempt to recover money for legal fees and settlements. The Hartford had argued that its policies, issued to the BSA in the 1970s, did not cover those claims, but changed course last spring and began working toward a payout.
The Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2020 and since then has been working to establish a victims compensation fund. It will include money from local councils and the national organization, together with payments from insurance companies such as The Hartford.
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