http://news.excite.com/news/pr/010717/nc-royalsun-lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal & SunAlliance USA announced today that Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS) has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit seeking to recover more than $35 million in Y2K remediation costs from its property insurers. Unisys filed the Y2K lawsuit in August 1999 in Delaware against two Royal & SunAlliance companies and two co-insurers, Allendale Mutual Insurance Company and Insurance Company of North America.

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The case was dismissed by a stipulation filed with the Delaware Superior Court. Unisys withdrew its lawsuit after nearly two years of intense litigation without any settlement or payment from the insurers.

The Unisys case was one of the first lawsuits filed by a company seeking to require its property insurers to pay for costs spent on preparing computer systems for the Year 2000. Unisys sued each of the companies that provided it property insurance from 1988 through 2000, claiming that its Y2K-related costs were covered expenses under a provision in the policies known as the "sue and labor" clause. The two Royal & SunAlliance insurers had the greatest stake in the lawsuit because their coverage period spanned from 1996 to 2000.

When asked about the terms of dismissal, L. D. Simmons, counsel for Royal & SunAlliance stated: "This decision by Unisys effectively shuts the case down and should be a clear signal to attorneys and policyholders pursuing these claims that they have little merit. We believe Unisys recognized the expensive nature of this litigation and that ultimately the courts would not accept its arguments."

The stipulation ending the Unisys lawsuit provides that the dismissal is "without prejudice" to either Unisys' or the insurers' right to refile the case. As a condition of the dismissal, the stipulation also states that if a party elects to file another action related to Unisys' claim for Y2K costs, the lawsuit must be brought again in Delaware Superior Court and evidence obtained in the prior lawsuit will apply to any future action.

Royal & SunAlliance USA is part of the international Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc, London (NYSE:RSA) LSE), one of the top 10 multi-line insurance groups in the world. The Group has $107 billion in assets, worldwide premiums of more than $17 billion and the ability to transact business in more than 130 countries.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001