Note 6. Commitments and Contingencies

We carry insurance policies on insurable risks at levels that we believe to be appropriate, including workers’ compensation, automobile and general liability risks. We purchase insurance policies from third-party insurance carriers, which typically incorporate significant deductibles or self-insured retentions. We are responsible for all claims that fall below the retention limits, exceed our coverage limits or are otherwise not covered by our insurance policies. In determining our accrual for self-insured claims, we use historical claims experience to establish both the current year accrual and the underlying provision for future losses. This actuarially determined provision and related accrual include known claims, as well as incurred but not reported claims. We adjust our estimate of accrued self-insured claims when required to reflect changes based on factors such as changes in health care costs, accident frequency and claim severity.

In the normal course of business, we periodically enter into agreements that incorporate indemnification provisions. While the maximum amount to which we may be exposed under such agreements cannot be estimated, we do not expect these guarantees and indemnifications to have a material effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

A reconciliation of beginning and ending accrued self-insured claims, which are included in Accrued liabilities—Self-insured claims and related expenses and Other long-term obligations, primarily self-insured claims on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position, net of insurance recoverables, which are included in Prepaid expenses and other assets and Other assets on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position, is presented as follows:



	Accrued
	Self-insured
(In millions)	Claims, Net
Balance as of December 31, 2019	$	111
Provision for self-insured claims		35
Cash payments		(21)
Balance as of September 30, 2020	$	125

Balance as of December 31, 2018	$	111
Provision for self-insured claims		26
Cash payments		(28)
Balance as of September 30, 2019	$	108

Our Terminix business is subject to a significant number of damage claims related to termite activity in homes for which we provide termite control services, often accompanied by a termite damage warranty. Our termite damage warranty is a differentiator in the industry that has enabled us to become a market leader of this product line. Termite damage claims include circumstances when a customer notifies us that they have experienced damage to their property and we reach an agreement to remediate that damage (a “Non-litigated Claim”); and circumstances when we do not reach an agreement with a customer to remediate the damage and that customer initiates litigation or arbitration proceedings (a “Litigated Claim”). We accrue for these liabilities when it is probable that future costs will be incurred and such costs can be reasonably estimated. Current activity can differ, causing a change in estimates which could be material.

During the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2019, we recorded a change in estimate of our reserve for termite damages for Litigated Claims and Non-Litigated Claims in the amount of $53 million.

A reconciliation of beginning and ending accrued Litigated Claims, which are included in Accrued liabilities—Other and Other long-term obligations, primarily self-insured claims on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position, and Non-Litigated Claims, which are included in Accrued liabilities—Self-insured claims and related expenses on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position, is presented as follows:


	Accrued
	Termite Damage
(In millions)	Claims
Balance as of December 31, 2019	$	80
Provision for termite damage claims		41
Cash payments		(42)
Balance as of September 30, 2020	$	79

Balance as of December 31, 2018	$	28
Provision for termite damage claims		28
Cash payments		(31)
Balance as of September 30, 2019	$	25

In March 2019, Company representatives met with representatives of the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Alabama (the “AL AG”) and other Alabama state representatives to discuss termite renewal pricing changes we made in the Mobile Bay area in 2019 and explain the Company’s perspective that the price increases complied with the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act (the “ADTPA”). Subsequently, in September 2019, we received a subpoena (the “AL Subpoena”) from the AL AG requesting documents and information under the ADTPA related to our Formosan termite business practices in the Mobile Bay area, largely focused on the termite renewal pricing changes we made in the Mobile Bay area in 2019. Although the AL Subpoena requested broader information than that related to termite renewal pricing changes, we determined based on our prior interactions and evaluation of the matter that any potential exposure was not material to the Company. Over the course of several months, the Company produced the documents and information requested by the AL Subpoena. In August 2020, the AL AG expressed for the first time their belief that the Company’s inspection and treatment practices may have violated the ADTPA, and that they anticipated imposing certain potential unquantified remedies. In an effort to better understand these matters raised by the AL AG, Company representatives met with the AL AG in September 2020, at which point the AL AG provided details regarding the scope of the alleged potential ADTPA violations and of the potential remedies and the potential economic scope of those remedies. Following the September 2020 meeting with the AL AG, the Company determined that the inquiry could be material to its operations and financial results. In October 2020, Company representatives again met with the AL AG and the AL AG verbally presented allegations of ADTPA violations related to the 2019 price increase and certain inspection and treatment practices, as well as a draft consent decree to resolve those allegations. Over the next two weeks, the Company and the AL AG engaged in intensive negotiations and, on November 4, 2020, the Company entered into the Consent Judgment and Settlement Agreement (the “Settlement”) with the AL AG.

The Settlement provides for: immediate remediation measures to be provided directly to current and former customers in the Mobile Bay area, including refunds of certain price increases, rebates to certain former customers, the establishment of a $25 million consumer fund and a related receiver to oversee our compliance with these commitments and to act as an arbitrator for certain Non-litigated Claims; the reimbursement of certain investigative and monitoring costs incurred by the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Agriculture and Industries; and a university endowment intended to support termite and pest control research with an emphasis on Formosan termite research. The Company has also agreed to pay the state of Alabama $19 million. In the third quarter of 2020, the Company recorded a charge of $49 million and reduction of revenue of $3 million related to these immediate remediation measures. These charges represent our best estimate and may change based on a variety of factors, and these changes could be material to our financial results, including acceptance rates by current and former customers of the agreed remediation measures.

Pursuant to the Settlement, we have also agreed to provide the opportunity to reinstate service for customers who canceled their services during certain specified timeframes as well as the retreatment of certain customer premises and a commitment to certain specified response and remediation timeframes for future termite damage claims. We do not expect the financial impact of these remedies to have a material impact on our prospective results of operations or cash flows.

On December 16, 2016, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice filed a civil complaint in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands related to a fumigation incident in a matter styled Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. The ServiceMaster Company, LLC, The Terminix International Company Limited Partnership, and Terminix International USVI, LLC. The amount and extent of any potential penalties, fines sanctions, costs and damages that the federal or other governmental authorities may yet impose, investigation or other costs and reputational harm, as well as the impact of any additional civil, criminal or other claims or judicial, administrative or regulatory proceedings resulting from or related to the U.S. Virgin Islands fumigation matter, which could be material, is not currently known or estimable, and any such further penalties, fines, sanctions, costs or damages would not be covered under our general liability insurance policies.