policies to cover firms for sexual harassment.

President of Cincinnati Financial Corporation in Fairfield, Cincinnati, Robert Morgan, speaking at the 10th International Reinsurance Congress at the Princess Hotel, said that insurers will be affected more and more by such claims.

But insurers have not yet figured out how to collect premium to fund the pay outs that will occur.

He quoted reported estimates that 60 percent of women in the US work force have already faced sexual harassment.

"Just a small portion of them prosecute claims,''he said. "So is there any other greater potential for an increase in claims, especially with the appetite of plaintiff's lawyers for huge awards.'' Mr. Morgan argued that lawyers are using increasingly clever ways to extract money from firms, which are eventually paid for by insurers. And he called for reform in the US court system and the system of contingency fees for lawyers, that encourage them to seek claims out of proportion to the liability.

He said the problem with industry difficulties with asbestos and environmental claims was that the industry continued to pay losses over years, while failing to collect any premium.

He said: "We need to design insurance products to ensure that we collect premium. Our industry has to do more to identify risks, write those risks and collect premium, instead of writing exclusions for certain hazards.

"In that regard, I think that pricing in the area of liability was sometimes wrong in the past and probably still is today.'' He also warned that the huge liability awards that have been a feature of the US justice system, may be spreading to other countries.

"If you are operating anywhere these days,'' he said, "you have to determine not just how reliable the system is, but also how reliable its regulation is.''