LITIGATION AND CONTINGENCIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

LITIGATION AND CONTINGENCIES

LITIGATION AND CONTINGENCIES

General

The Company is involved in various legal proceedings, including product liability, general liability, workers’ compensation liability, employment, commercial and intellectual property litigation, which have arisen in the normal course of operations. The Company is insured for product liability, general liability, workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, property damage and other insurable risk required by law or contract, with retained liability or deductibles. The Company records and maintains an estimated liability in the amount of management’s estimate of the Company’s aggregate exposure for such retained liabilities and deductibles. For such retained liabilities and deductibles, the Company determines its exposure based on probable loss estimations, which requires such losses to be both probable and the amount or range of probable loss to be estimable. The Company believes it has made appropriate and adequate reserves and accruals for its current contingencies and the likelihood of a material loss beyond amounts accrued is remote. The Company believes the outcome of such matters, individually and in aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial statements as a whole. However, outcomes of lawsuits cannot be predicted and, if determined adversely, could ultimately result in the Company incurring significant liabilities which could have a material adverse effect on its results of operations.

Terex Latin América Equipamentos Ltda ICMS Proceedings

Terex Latin America Equipamentos Ltda (“TLA”) imports Terex products into Brazil through the state of Espirito Santo to its facility in Sao Paulo. For the 2004 through March 2009 period, TLA used a third-party trading company, SAB, as an agent to process the importation of Terex products. TLA properly paid the Espirito Santo ICMS tax (Brazilian state value-added tax) to SAB for payment to Espirito Santo, which would produce an ICMS credit to be used against imposition of Sao Paolo ICMS tax. SAB went into bankruptcy and may not have actually remitted to Espirito Santo the ICMS tax amounts paid to it by TLA. The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo challenged the credit against Sao Paolo ICMS that TLA claimed and assessed unpaid ICMS tax, penalties and related interest in the amount of approximately BRL 102 million ($19 million). TLA challenged the claim of Sao Paulo and learned in October 2019 that the Sao Paulo claim has survived the administrative tribunal process. TLA anticipates that it will receive notice for an amount due from Sao Paulo and expects to protest the Sao Paulo claim in litigation. While the Company believes the position of the state of Sao Paulo is without merit and continues to vigorously oppose it, no assurance can be given as to the final resolution of the ICMS litigation or that TLA will not ultimately be required to pay ICMS and interest to the state of Sao Paulo.

Other

The Company is involved in various other legal proceedings which have arisen in the normal course of its operations. The Company has recorded provisions for estimated losses in circumstances where a loss is probable and the amount or range of possible amounts of the loss is estimable.

Credit Guarantees

Customers of the Company from time to time may fund the acquisition of the Company’s equipment through third-party finance companies. In certain instances, the Company may provide a credit guarantee to the finance company, by which the Company agrees to make payments to the finance company should the customer default. These may require the Company to: (i) pay-off the customer’s obligations, (ii) assume the customer’s payments or (iii) pay a predetermined percentage of the customer’s outstanding obligation. The current amount of the maximum potential liability under these credit guarantees cannot be reasonably estimated due to limited availability of the unique facts and circumstances of each arrangement, such as customer delinquency and whether changes have been made to the structure of the contractual obligation between the funder and customer.

For credit guarantees outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the maximum exposure determined at inception was $143.8 million and $78.4 million, respectively. Terms of these guarantees coincide with the financing arranged by the customer and generally do not exceed five years. Given the Company’s position as original equipment manufacturer and its knowledge of end markets, the Company, when called upon to fulfill a guarantee, generally has been able to liquidate the financed equipment at a minimal loss, if any, to the Company.

There can be no assurance that historical credit default experience will be indicative of future results.  The Company’s ability to recover losses experienced from its guarantees may be affected by economic conditions in effect at the time of loss.