Camps Solicitors are closely watching developments in the High Court in London today. Some of Britain’s most senior judges are due to deliver a verdict in a case that could have implications for asbestos-related cancer victims and their families.
The central issue in today’s case relates to when an insurance company becomes liable to pay out compensation to a worker exposed to asbestos. Currently the insurance policy that an employer had at the time of the employee’s exposure will be expected to pay out compensation, but insurance companies are contesting this point. In their view any claims for asbestos exposure compensation should be made against the insurance policy that was in place at the time the worker became ill. Given that the length of time between exposure and developing asbestos related cancer is usually measured in years or even decades, the sufferer may be in a different job and their original employers may even have gone out of business.
Asbestos-related disease is the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, and it particularly affects people who formerly worked in heavy industry. Interest in the case is high, with potentially tens of thousands of people affected by today’s ruling, and millions of pounds of the insurance companies’ money at stake. If the insurers are successful in their argument, then the asbestos exemption clauses in many more modern insurance policies will leave sufferers unable to make claims on their employers insurance. The only option then will be to sue their employers direct, which could be very difficult, especially as many of the firms will already have gone out of business.
The test case heard today involves the family of Merseyside gas worker Charles O’Farrell, who died of asbestos related disease in 2003. The company at which he was working when he was exposed to asbestos went out of business in the 1980’s, so his family made a claim on the insurance policy which his old employers had in place which dated from the 1960’s. The insurer, Excess, claimed that this four decade old policy was no longer valid. Lawyers acting for the families involved in the case have warned that in future making a claim could be so difficult that there might be a “compensation black hole” if the case is decided in favour of insurance companies.
If you or a member of your family has been affected by primary or secondary exposure to asbestos then Camps Solicitors may be able to help you to make a claim for asbestos-related disease compensation. By closely monitoring developments in asbestos case law such as today’s judgement, our personal injury lawyers are in an excellent position to provide the most up-to-date legal advice and assistance concerning the complex field of asbestos disease claims.
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