Contingencies, Commitments and Guarantees

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contingencies, Commitments and Guarantees

19. Contingencies, Commitments and Guarantees

Contingencies

Litigation

The Company is a defendant in a large number of litigation matters. Putative or certified class action litigation and other litigation and claims and assessments against the Company, in addition to those discussed below and those otherwise provided for in the Company’s consolidated financial statements, have arisen in the course of the Company’s business, including, but not limited to, in connection with its activities as an insurer, mortgage lender, employer, investor, investment advisor, broker-dealer, and taxpayer.

The Company also receives and responds to subpoenas or other inquiries seeking a broad range of information from state regulators, including state insurance commissioners; state attorneys general or other state governmental authorities; federal regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; federal governmental authorities, including congressional committees; and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as well as from local and national regulators and government authorities in jurisdictions outside the United States where the Company conducts business. The issues involved in information requests and regulatory matters vary widely, but can include inquiries or investigations concerning the Company’s compliance with applicable insurance and other laws and regulations. The Company cooperates in these inquiries.

It is not possible to predict the ultimate outcome of all pending investigations and legal proceedings. The Company establishes liabilities for litigation and regulatory loss contingencies when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. In certain circumstances where liabilities have been established there may be coverage under one or more corporate insurance policies, pursuant to which there may be an insurance recovery. Insurance recoveries are recognized as gains when any contingencies relating to the insurance claim have been resolved, which is the earlier of when the gains are realized or realizable. It is possible that some of the matters could require the Company to pay damages or make other expenditures or establish accruals in amounts that could not be reasonably estimated at December 31, 2024. While the potential future charges could be material in the particular quarterly or annual periods in which they are recorded, based on information currently known to management, management does not believe any such charges are likely to have a material effect on the Company’s financial position. Given the large and/or indeterminate amounts sought in certain of these matters and the inherent unpredictability of litigation, it is possible that an adverse outcome in certain matters could, from time to time, have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated net income or cash flows in particular quarterly or annual periods.

Matters as to Which an Estimate Can Be Made

For some matters, the Company is able to estimate a reasonably possible range of loss. For matters where a loss is believed to be reasonably possible, but not probable, the Company has not made an accrual. As of December 31, 2024, the Company estimates the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses in excess of amounts accrued for these matters to be $0 to $125 million.

Matters as to Which an Estimate Cannot Be Made

For other matters, the Company is not currently able to estimate the reasonably possible loss or range of loss. The Company is often unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss until developments in such matters have provided sufficient information to support an assessment of the range of possible loss, such as quantification of a damage demand from plaintiffs, discovery from other parties and investigation of factual allegations, rulings by the court on motions or appeals, analysis by experts, and the progress of settlement negotiations. On a quarterly and annual basis, the Company reviews relevant information with respect to litigation contingencies and updates its accruals, disclosures and estimates of reasonably possible losses or ranges of loss based on such reviews.

Asbestos-Related Claims

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is and has been a defendant in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts. These suits principally allege that the plaintiff or plaintiffs suffered personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos and seek both actual and punitive damages. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has never engaged in the business of manufacturing or selling asbestos-containing products, nor has Metropolitan Life Insurance Company issued liability or workers’ compensation insurance to companies in the business of manufacturing or selling asbestos-containing products. The lawsuits principally have focused on allegations with respect to certain research, publication and other activities of one or more of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s employees during the period from the 1920s through approximately the 1950s and allege that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company learned or should have learned of certain health risks posed by asbestos and, among other things, improperly publicized or failed to disclose those health risks. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company believes that it should not have legal liability in these cases. The outcome of most asbestos litigation matters, however, is uncertain and can be impacted by numerous variables, including differences in legal rulings in various jurisdictions, the nature of the alleged injury and factors unrelated to the ultimate legal merit of the claims asserted against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s defenses include that: (i) Metropolitan Life Insurance Company owed no duty to the plaintiffs; (ii) plaintiffs did not rely on any actions of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; (iii) Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s conduct was not the cause of the plaintiffs’ injuries; and (iv) plaintiffs’ exposure occurred after the dangers of asbestos were known. During the course of the litigation, certain trial courts have granted motions dismissing claims against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, while other trial courts have denied Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s motions. There can be no assurance that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company will receive favorable decisions on motions in the future. While most cases brought to date have settled, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company intends to continue to defend aggressively against claims based on asbestos exposure, including defending claims at trials.

The approximate total number of asbestos personal injury claims pending against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as of the dates indicated, the approximate number of new claims during the years ended on those dates and the approximate total settlement payments made to resolve asbestos personal injury claims at or during those years are set forth in the following table:


	December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
	(In millions, except number of claims)
Asbestos personal injury claims at year end	57,760		57,488		58,073
Number of new claims during the year	2,936		2,565		2,610
Settlement payments during the year (1)	$	47.4	$	50.6	$	50.5

__________________

(1)Settlement payments represent payments made by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company during the year in connection with settlements made in that year and in prior years. Amounts do not include Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s attorneys’ fees and expenses.

The number of asbestos cases that may be brought, the aggregate amount of any liability that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company may incur, and the total amount paid in settlements in any given year are uncertain and may vary significantly from year to year.

The ability of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to estimate its ultimate asbestos exposure is subject to considerable uncertainty, and the conditions impacting its liability can be dynamic and subject to change. The availability of reliable data is limited and it is difficult to predict the numerous variables that can affect liability estimates, including the number of future claims, the cost to resolve claims, the disease mix and severity of disease in pending and future claims, the willingness of courts to allow plaintiffs to pursue claims against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company when exposure to asbestos took place after the dangers of asbestos exposure were well known, and the impact of any possible future adverse verdicts and their amounts.

The ability to make estimates regarding ultimate asbestos exposure declines significantly as the estimates relate to years further in the future. In the Company’s judgment, there is a future point after which losses cease to be probable and reasonably estimable. It is reasonably possible that the Company’s total exposure to asbestos claims may be materially greater than the asbestos liability currently accrued and that future charges to income may be necessary, but management does not believe any such charges are likely to have a material effect on the Company’s financial position.

The Company believes adequate provision has been made in its consolidated financial statements for all probable and reasonably estimable losses for asbestos-related claims. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s recorded asbestos liability covers pending claims, claims not yet asserted, and legal defense costs and is based on estimates and includes significant assumptions underlying its analysis.

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company reevaluates on a quarterly and annual basis its exposure from asbestos litigation, including studying its claims experience, reviewing external literature regarding asbestos claims experience in the United States, assessing relevant trends impacting asbestos liability and considering numerous variables that can affect its asbestos liability exposure on an overall or per claim basis. Based upon its regular reevaluation of its exposure from asbestos litigation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has updated its recorded liability for asbestos-related claims. The frequency of claims relating to asbestos has not declined as expected, and MLIC has reflected this in its provisions. Accordingly, MLIC increased its recorded liability for asbestos-related claims to $406 million at December 31, 2024. The recorded liability was $364 million at December 31, 2023.

Total Asset Recovery Services, LLC. v. MetLife, Inc., et al. (Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, filed December 27, 2017)

Total Asset Recovery Services (the “Relator”) brought an action under the qui tam provision of the New York False Claims Act (the “Act”) on behalf of itself and the State of New York. The Relator originally filed this action under seal in 2010, and the complaint was unsealed on December 19, 2017. The Relator alleges that MetLife, Inc., Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and several other insurance companies violated the Act by filing false unclaimed property reports with the State of New York from 1986 to 2017, to avoid having to escheat the proceeds of more than 25,000 life insurance policies, including policies for which the defendants escheated funds as part of their demutualizations in the late 1990s. The Relator seeks treble damages and other relief. In December 2020, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, First Department, reversed the court’s order granting MetLife, Inc. and MLIC’s motion to dismiss and remanded the case. The Relator filed a Fourth Amended Complaint in January 2023. On October 13, 2024, the trial court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint. The Company intends to defend the action vigorously.

Matters Related to Group Annuity Benefits

In 2018, the Company announced that it identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting related to the practices and procedures for estimating reserves for certain group annuity benefits. Several regulators have made inquiries into the issue and it is possible that other jurisdictions may pursue similar investigations or inquiries. The Company could be exposed to lawsuits and additional legal actions relating to the issue. These may result in payments, including damages, fines, penalties, interest and other amounts assessed or awarded by courts or regulatory authorities under applicable escheat, tax, securities, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or other laws or regulations. The Company could incur significant costs in connection with these actions.

Insolvency Assessments

Many jurisdictions in which the Company is admitted to transact business require insurers doing business within the jurisdiction to participate in guaranty associations, which are organized to pay contractual benefits owed pursuant to insurance policies issued by impaired, insolvent or failed insurers or those that may become impaired, insolvent or fail. These associations levy assessments, up to prescribed limits, on all member insurers in a particular jurisdiction on the basis of the proportionate share of the premiums written by member insurers in the lines of business in which the impaired, insolvent or failed insurer engaged. In addition, certain jurisdictions have government owned or controlled organizations providing life, health and property and casualty insurance to their citizens, whose activities could place additional stress on the adequacy of guaranty fund assessments. Many of these organizations have the power to levy assessments similar to those of the guaranty associations. Some jurisdictions permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offsets.

Assets and liabilities held for insolvency assessments are as follows:


	December 31,
	2024
	(In millions)
Other Assets:
Premium tax offset for future discounted and undiscounted assessments	$	45
Premium tax offset currently available for paid assessments	66
Total	$	111
Other Liabilities:
Insolvency assessments	$	61

Commitments

Mortgage Loan Commitments

The Company commits to lend funds under mortgage loan commitments. The amounts of these mortgage loan commitments were $1.5 billion and $3.3 billion at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Commitments to Fund Partnership Investments, Bank Credit Facilities, Bridge Loans and Private Corporate Bond Investments

The Company commits to fund partnership investments and to lend funds under bank credit facilities, bridge loans and private corporate bond investments. The amounts of these unfunded commitments were $4.0 billion and $4.4 billion at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Guarantees

In the normal course of its business, the Company has provided certain indemnities and guarantees to third parties such that it may be required to make payments now or in the future. In the context of acquisition, disposition, investment and other transactions, the Company has provided indemnities and guarantees, including those related to tax, environmental and other specific liabilities and other indemnities and guarantees that are triggered by, among other things, breaches of representations, warranties or covenants provided by the Company. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Company provides indemnifications to counterparties in contracts with triggers similar to the foregoing, as well as for certain other liabilities, such as third-party lawsuits. These obligations are often subject to time limitations that vary in duration, including contractual limitations and those that arise by operation of law, such as applicable statutes of limitation. In some cases, the maximum potential obligation under the indemnities and guarantees is subject to a contractual limitation ranging from less than $1 million to $524 million, with a cumulative maximum of $622 million, while in other cases such limitations are not specified or applicable. Since certain of these obligations are not subject to limitations, the Company does not believe that it is possible to determine the maximum potential amount that could become due under these guarantees in the future. Management believes that it is unlikely the Company will have to make any material payments under these indemnities or guarantees.

In addition, the Company indemnifies its directors and officers as provided in its charters and by-laws. Also, the Company indemnifies its agents for liabilities incurred as a result of their representation of the Company’s interests. Since these indemnities are generally not subject to limitation with respect to duration or amount, the Company does not believe that it is possible to determine the maximum potential amount that could become due under these indemnities in the future.

The Company’s recorded liabilities were $2 million at both December 31, 2024 and 2023 for indemnities and guarantees.

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE CO 10-K