Ruling threat to asbestos claims

DYING asbestos victims in South Tyneside will be robbed of compensation after a controversial Court of Appeal ruling, campaigners warned today.
There is dismay after the ruling yesterday cast doubt on thousands of claims by people suffering from the killer disease, mesothelioma, which is triggered by exposure to asbestos fibres.

Judges were unable to agree on a previous High Court ruling
ADVERTISEMENT
that insurers are liable for damages from the time when victims are exposed to asbestos.

There are warnings the ruling – part of a complicated, 366-page judgement – could spark confusion and anxiety.

Insurers can now argue that compensation should only be paid from the onset of the symptoms, while solicitors for victims say it should be from the time of exposure.

Anne Craig, of Hebburn, an asbestos campaigner and an official of the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, whose husband, David, died of mesothelioma, said: "This ruling is devastating news for people suffering from mesothelioma – now, and in the future.

"There is a very long incubation period for the disease, and this judgement could mean victims will no longer be able to claim from the time they were originally exposed to asbestos.

"This could have serious, long-term implications and the matter will definitely be raised at the next meeting of the all-party Asbestos Forum, which I will attend at the Houses of Parliament, on November 10."

Officials of the Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) have blasted the confusing Court of Appeal ruling, which it is feared could prevent thousands of dying asbestos victims from claiming compensation.

UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie said: "This decision is disgraceful and perverse. This is not justice.

"Victims who were needlessly exposed to asbestos, will be prevented from claiming compensation, leaving the victim and their family destitute."

Roger Maddocks, a partner at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, Newcastle, specialists in occupational disease claims, said: "Unfortunately, this ruling complicates the situation and could mean fewer people making successful claims and more insurance companies evading or avoiding settling compensation cases."

Under what is called the 'trigger issue' case, the insurance industry successfully argued that insurers were no longer liable to compensate a victim from the time of exposure to asbestos.

But there can be a 30-year incubation period before mesothelioma is diagnosed and many victims develop the disease after retiring from work.

It is feared yesterday's ruling could mean victims and their families will not be allowed to claim, saving the insurance industry billions of pounds in compensation.

Thousands of compensation cases have been referred to the Supreme Court after yesterday's decision, but there are doubts if the claims will be successful.

More than 2,000 people a year die from mesothelioma, and death rates in the UK are not expected to peak until at least 2016.

brought to you by terry kelly at http://www.shieldsgazette.com