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Following a massive campaign run via an e-petition to the Prime Minister, the government has repsonded as below: "The Government is committed to ensuring that people with long tail diseases, particularly those with mesothelioma, can receive the compensation to which they are entitled. Since 1 October 2008 there has been no legal requirement for businesses to keep copies of Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance certificates for 40 years. The difficulty with the previous requirement for businesses to keep copies of certificates for 40 years was that it carried no penalty for non-compliance and therefore was not enforced in practice. In addition the regulation did not apply to businesses that have ceased to trade as the regulation, which was introduced on 1 January 1999, could not be applied retrospectively. Introducing an effective penalty for failing to comply with a regulation would have required the enforcement bodies, in this case the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities, to have an appropriate inspection regime in place. Although some stakeholders have called for a penalty for non-compliance, they recognise that enforcement was not likely to be possible or practical. Businesses are still advised, however, to maintain records to ensure they can meet the cost of any claims made against them for illness or injury at work. Failure to do so could see the legal costs and compensation being met by the business rather than the insurance provider. The Association of British Insurers is currently looking at the possibility of establishing a database for keeping records of Employers’ Liability Insurance policies. They have commissioned a scoping and costing exercise to establish the logistical and financial implications for the industry. The Government will discuss this issue further with the Association of British Insurers when their scoping and costing exercise has been completed." The original petitiondetails and the above respoinse can be read on the website here
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