Liability claims make up a large component of overall claims under the Federal Government’s $640 million dollar HIH rescue package, and most of them will take time to settle.

New figures show that liability and professional indemnity policies account for 61% of the 7600 applications to the Government’s industry-administered HIH Claims Support Ltd.

The company has paid out a total of $42 million in assistance on 1500 claims, although it is still unclear how much of the total amount paid was for liability claims.

Assistant Treasurer Senator Helen Coonan said liability claims usually involve litigation and could take several years to resolve.

She said the majority of claims for home and contents, personal motor vehicle, property and commercial lines had been paid because they usually do not involve litigation.

Another 470 claims have been rejected because they failed to meet the strict eligibility criteria, while 5630 claims are in the hands of insurance industry claim managers.