Dozens of companies that made or installed asbestos products went through bankruptcy and were required to fund compensation trusts for the people their products injured. The U.S. Government Accountability Office counted sixty such trusts holding roughly $30 billion in its 2011 review (GAO-11-819, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-11-819). The list below covers the major established trusts, organized by the original company name, because the company name is what appears in work histories and coworker memories.
Use it as a recognition tool. If a name below matches a product or employer from your family member’s working years, that trust may hold a claim. Every trust publishes its own eligibility criteria and evidence requirements, and payment percentages change over time, so this list states no payment figures. Note also that a worker did not need to be employed by any of these companies to have a claim; what matters is exposure to their products, wherever the job was.
Major asbestos trust funds by original company
Insulation and building products
- Johns-Manville. The largest American maker of asbestos insulation products; its 1982 bankruptcy produced the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, the first of the modern asbestos trusts, which began paying claims in 1988.
- Owens Corning and Fibreboard. Makers of insulation products, including the Kaylo pipe insulation line; their claims are handled through the Owens Corning / Fibreboard Asbestos Personal Injury Trust, with separate funds for each company.
- Armstrong World Industries. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania flooring and building products company; its claims are handled by the Armstrong World Industries Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust.
- W.R. Grace. Maker of Zonolite vermiculite insulation and Monokote fireproofing; claims go through the WRG Asbestos PI Trust.
- USG (United States Gypsum). Maker of gypsum building products, including joint compounds and plasters; claims go through the United States Gypsum Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust.
- National Gypsum. Maker of Gold Bond building products; claims are handled by the NGC Bodily Injury Trust.
- Celotex. Maker of roofing and building products, with claims covering Celotex and Philip Carey product lines through the Celotex Asbestos Settlement Trust.
- Pittsburgh Corning. The Pittsburgh-based maker of Unibestos pipe insulation, manufactured in part at its Port Allegany, Pennsylvania plant; claims go through the Pittsburgh Corning Corporation Asbestos PI Trust.
- Keene. Successor to the Baldwin-Ehret-Hill insulation business; claims are handled by the Keene Creditors Trust.
Boilers, machinery, and industrial equipment
- Babcock & Wilcox. Maker of large industrial and utility boilers that were insulated with asbestos; claims go through the Babcock & Wilcox Company Asbestos PI Trust.
- Combustion Engineering. Maker of power plant boilers and related equipment; claims go through the Combustion Engineering 524(g) Asbestos PI Trust.
- Federal-Mogul. The auto parts group whose trust handles claims from several product lines, including the Turner & Newall asbestos businesses, through the Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust.
- DII Industries (Halliburton). The trust covering asbestos claims tied to Halliburton subsidiaries, including Dresser Industries product lines, through the DII Industries, LLC Asbestos PI Trust.
- H.K. Porter. The Pittsburgh industrial company whose products included asbestos friction materials and textiles; claims go through the H.K. Porter Asbestos Trust.
Installers and contractors
- Western MacArthur / Western Asbestos. The West Coast insulation distributor and contractor whose claims are handled by the Western Asbestos Settlement Trust.
Why this list is not the whole universe
The GAO’s 2011 review counted sixty trusts (GAO-11-819), and more have been created since. Regional distributors, gasket and packing makers, and specialty manufacturers all have trusts that matter enormously in the right work history and not at all otherwise. A complete claim workup checks the full set against your specific exposure record, not just the famous names above, because the obscure trusts are exactly the ones families miss on their own. How the trusts operate is covered in our asbestos trust fund claims guide.
Payment percentages change and criteria differ
Each trust pays approved claims at a payment percentage its trustees set and adjust, which is why this page quotes none: any number printed here would eventually be wrong. Each trust also publishes its own criteria, required evidence, and deadlines in its trust distribution procedures. How the percentages work is explained in asbestos trust fund payouts.
What this means for your family
If any name on this page rang a bell, write down what you remember about the job, the years, and the products. That memory is evidence, and matching it against the trusts is exactly what a claim workup does.
Share whatever you remember through a free case review and we will check the full universe of trusts against it.