Justice For Asbestos Victims As Supreme Court Rules Against ‘Callous’ Insurers

A Supreme Court ruling on 28th March found against insurance companies that had been seeking to deny compensation to the victims of asbestos cancers has been welcomed by unions. Unite hailed the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court which will affect many of the 2,500 people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year.

The Supreme Court upheld Unite’s appeal and rejected arguments by insurance companies which would have denied compensation to victims of the terminal disease mesothelioma. Judges in the country’s highest court agreed with Unite that the insurers of an employer at the time of the exposure to asbestos should pay compensation.

Unite appealed to the Supreme Court after insurance companies were partly successful in an earlier appeal to the Court of Appeal. The companies argued that in some cases the employers’ liability insurance is ‘triggered’ not by the exposure to asbestos but by the development of the disease which is always decades later when there is no insurance in place to respond to the claim.

In his judgment Lord Clarke concluded that: “The whole purpose of these policies was to insure employers against liability to their employees. That purpose would be frustrated if the insurers’ submissions on this point were accepted.”

Lord Phillips added that diseases are contracted when the process that leads to them is initiated as a result of wrongful exposure to the noxious substance that causes the disease.

The judgment went on to emphasise that these principles apply not only to mesothelioma but also to other industrial diseases.

Commenting, Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said:

“This is a landmark ruling which will affect thousands of victims of asbestos. It is a disgrace that insurance companies went to such lengths to shirk their responsibilities. For callous insurers this means the responsibility holiday is over. Unite fought this case to the highest court to get justice for Charles, his family and all victims of asbestos. Justice for ordinary people and the ability of trade unions to bring these cases won’t be possible if the government succeeds in slamming the door to justice with their Legal Aid bill.”

The Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum - UK welcomed the decision saying in their press release:
 
Today, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in favour of claimants suffering from the asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, in the ‘Trigger’ case which has been ongoing for 6 years.

A judgment in favour of the insurers would have had a devastating effect because so many employers are no longer trading when mesothelioma is diagnosed and, as a result, there would be no insurers to satisfy thousands of claims.

Tony Whitston, Forum Chair, said:

“Thousands of claimants never lived to the just outcome of this case. Their grieving families have had to wait years for justice while this case was dragged by insurers through every court in the land. They will greet this judgment with relief rather than joy. This case is the latest in a series of shameful attempts by insurers to limit their liability to pay compensation. Let us hope it is the last.”

The TUC’s General Secretary Brendan Barber also commented on the court decision saying:

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld the basic principle that liability arises at the time when exposure occurs. Any other decision would have been perverse. It is a disgrace that a small number of insurance companies should seek to deny thousands of people who have developed a fatal disease from negligent exposure to asbestos the compensation that they deserve.

However there are still many people with the disease who are unable to get compensation because their insurer cannot be traced. We urge the ministers to set up immediately an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau along the lines proposed in a government consultation carried out two years ago.”

However, major changes are promised by the government as part of it’s ‘culling’ of health and safety legislation.

It has promised to remove the ‘strict liability’ from employers, making it harder to prosecute them for lack of health and safety practice and procedures in the event of  a death or injury, providing they can show they did everything ‘reasonable and practicable’ to avoid injuries and deaths. You can read more about this here

Source: Unite / TUC /Hazards / Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK

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