Guarantees, Indemnities and Warranties

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Guarantees, Indemnities and Warranties [Abstract]

Guarantees, Indemnities and Warranties

NOTE 21

Guarantees, Indemnities and Warranties

Indemnities

As part of the Distribution, ITT provided certain indemnifications and cross-indemnifications among ITT, Exelis and Xylem, subject to limited exceptions with respect to certain employee claims. The indemnifications address a variety of subjects, including asserted and unasserted product liability matters (e.g., asbestos claims, product warranties) which relate to products manufactured, repaired and/or sold prior to the Distribution Date. The indemnifications are indefinite. The indemnification associated with pending and future asbestos claims does not expire. In addition, ITT, Exelis and Xylem agreed to certain cross-indemnifications with respect to other liabilities and obligations. ITT expects Exelis and Xylem to fully perform under the terms of the Distribution Agreement and therefore has not recorded a liability for matters for which we have been indemnified. In addition, we are not aware of any claims or other circumstances that would give rise to material payments to Xylem or Exelis under the indemnity provided by ITT.

Since ITT’s incorporation in 1920, we have acquired and disposed of numerous entities. The related acquisition and disposition agreements contain various representation and warranty clauses and may provide indemnities for a misrepresentation or breach of the representations and warranties by either party. The indemnities address a variety of subjects; the term and monetary amounts of each such indemnity are defined in the specific agreements and may be affected by various conditions and external factors. Many of the indemnities have expired either by operation of law or as a result of the terms of the agreement. We do not have a liability recorded for these indemnifications and are not aware of any claims or other information that would give rise to material payments under such indemnities.

Guarantees

We have $192 of guarantees, letters of credit and similar arrangements outstanding at December 31, 2011 primarily pertaining to commercial or performance guarantees and insurance matters. We have not recorded any loss contingencies under these guarantees, letters of credit and similar arrangements as of December 31, 2011 as the likelihood of nonperformance by ITT is considered remote. From time to time, we may provide certain third-party guarantees that may be affected by various conditions and external factors, some of which could require that payments be made under such guarantees. We do not consider the maximum exposure or current recorded liabilities under our third-party guarantees to be material either individually or in the aggregate. We do not believe such payments would have a material adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows on a consolidated basis.

In December 2007, we entered into a sale leaseback agreement for our corporate aircraft, with the aircraft leased to ITT under a five-year operating lease and ITT provided a residual value guarantee to the lessor for the future value of the aircraft. During the second quarter of 2011, we purchased the aircraft from the lessor for $50, the price stated in the sale leaseback agreement, and as such the sale leaseback agreement and the associated residual value guarantee were terminated. In connection with this transaction, we settled a previously recorded $22 residual value guarantee and recognized an additional charge of $3, presented within G&A expenses, as the purchase price exceeded the fair value of the aircraft at the date of termination of the sale leaseback agreement. One of the corporate aircraft was sold for a gain of $3 and the other aircraft was distributed to Exelis, and accordingly, at December 31, 2011, ITT no longer owned any corporate aircraft.

In December 2011, the Flagler County Board of Commissioners approved the termination of certain construction obligations associated with a 1984 Development Order for Development of Regional Impact (“DRI”) known as Hammock Dunes, Florida. On February 1, 2012, the Flagler County Board of Commissioners released ITT from further material obligations related to the DRI and cancelled the $10 bond issued in its favor by ITT to secure the construction obligations under the DRI. As a result of the approval to terminate the construction obligation in December 2011, the Company released its $10 previously recorded contingent liability for these construction obligations.

Warranties

ITT warrants numerous products, the terms of which vary widely. In general, ITT warrants its products against defect and specific non-performance. In the certain markets, such as automotive, aerospace and rail, liability for product defects could extend beyond the selling price of the product and could be significant if the defect interrupts production or results in a recall. The table included below provides changes in the product warranty accrual for December 31, 2011 and 2010.

	2011				2010
Warranty accrual – January 1		$	27			$	24
Warranty expense			8				13
Payments			(9	)			(10	)
Warranty accrual – December 31		$	26			$	27