NEW YORK ? The price for settling state charges of collusion and bid rigging by the nation?s largest insurance broker could be ?far higher? than $500 million, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said yesterday.

Spitzer disputed the $500 million settlement figure reported yesterday by The Wall Street Journal as the minimum for any settlement of the attorney general?s lawsuit against Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. Since Spitzer announced the suit on October 14, the company?s chief executive resigned and outside directors have scrambled to settle the case as its stock plummets.

?The number I saw in the paper is not one that I have heard,? Spitzer told The Associated Press after speaking to the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation in Manhattan. ?There has been no discussion about a number. It is very premature.?

A Marsh spokesman didn?t respond to a request for comment yesterday.

?We will do the calculation and it could be far higher than the $500 million,? Spitzer said. ?Anybody who says $500 million as some kind of cap is going to be miscalculating.?

Shares of Marsh & McLennan rose 2 cents to $28.71 in trading yesterday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange, but they have slumped 37.8 percent since Spitzer announced his action.

Also yesterday, Fitch Ratings downgraded Marsh & McLennan debt to BBB from A-minus and kept the company on its ?rating watch negative? list for possible further downgrades.

Moody?s had lowered the company?s debt for a second time on Wednesday.

Spitzer filed a civil suit against Marsh & McLennan accusing the firm of price fixing and bid rigging.

He also took issue with so-called contingent commissions paid by insurance companies to Marsh & McLennan in exchange for steering more business their way. Spitzer called the fees ?kickbacks.?

The illegal processes forced businesses to pay more than necessary for property and casualty insurance, Spitzer said.

Determining how much the long-standing commissions practice cost customers is part of the calculation Spitzer has used in most of his corporate settlements.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported in yesterday?s editions that any settlement is about two weeks away.

The total cost of the case including class action suits and other private litigation recently filed could top well over $1 billion, some of which could be covered by insurance, the newspaper reported.

At least seven federal lawsuits have been filed as of Wednesday, and a California attorney has filed a lawsuit in state court.

Potential litigants number in the tens of thousands, one lawyer said.

When Spitzer announced his suit, he said he wouldn?t negotiate with the company?s management.

Days later, Marsh & McLennan forced the resignation of chairman and chief executive, Jeffrey W. Greenberg.

The company on Monday named Michael G. Cherkasky, the former head of Kroll risk consultancy, to lead the company.