Charities furious at one-sided asbestos consultation

Asbestos charities have expressed their fury to justice minister Helen Grant over what they believe is the excessive influence of the insurance industry on the government's cancer compensation policy. In a 23 September meeting, the groups told justice minister Helen Grant the 'partisan' consultation 'Reforming Mesothelioma Claims' would disadvantage people suffering from the always fatal asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. The Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum, the June Hancock and Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Funds, Macmillan and Mesothelioma UK said proposed reforms, which include removing an exemption from legal costs for mesothelioma sufferers, were drafted by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and incorporated wholesale in the consultation paper. The charities say concerns they raised were ignored by the minister, including problems with inadequate and possibly misleading data used in the consultation impact assessment. Charities believe that the ABI-inserted options will slow down claims and limit access to justice. Tony Whitston, a spokesperson for the groups, said: 'We are furious that the ABI agenda for reform has been adopted wholesale in the Ministry of Justice consultation and is being construed as the basis for imposing legal costs on dying mesothelioma sufferers. We are calling on the minister to abandon this partisan consultation which disadvantages mesothelioma sufferers, and instead, to arrange an opportunity for the defendant and claimant community to develop a positive agenda for reform.'

Asbestos Forum news release. Post Online.