TUC concern at asbestos ruling

TUC concern at asbestos ruling

The TUC has expressed grave concern at the continued uncertainty facing people dying from asbestos diseases, following a Court of Appeal ruling on compensation payments. Three appeal court judges ruled last week that only some sufferers could recover damages for the fatal harm they sustained as a result of work exposures decades ago. The judges were considering a November 2008 High Court ruling that said employers' insurers at the time of exposure were liable to pay out on claims for the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma (Risks 384). However the appeal court judges found that in some cases the responsibility lay with the employer's insurer at the onset of symptoms, which in some cases is 50 or 60 years after the original exposure. The ruling, in an appeal brought by insurance companies, means mesothelioma sufferers will now have to wait while the case is referred to the Supreme Court. The TUC is concerned that any decision which allows insurers not to pay compensation to people who were exposed, even where there was an insurance policy in place, not only undermines the whole principle of compulsory employers' liability insurance, but also denies thousands of people, and their dependants, justice. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Over the years insurance companies have done all they can to avoid paying asbestos victims the compensation they are entitled to. They were more than willing to take the premiums when the victims were working, but only too happy to rush to court when claims are made.' He added: 'This is the real compensation culture we face in this country. A culture where people can be killed as a result of their employer's negligence and then be denied the compensation they are entitled to.'

TUC news release. Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release. Thompsons Solicitors news release. John Pickering Solicitors news release. Solicitors Journal.