Unite backs High Court test case on behalf of thousands of asbestos
victims
2 June 2008
UNITE the Union is backing a High Court test case next week to
protect the legal rights of thousands of vulnerable asbestos
victims throughout the UK.
The UK's largest trade union, represented by Thompsons
Solicitors , is backing a lead case in a nine-week court battle,
starting on Tuesday, June 3, 2008, against insurance companies who
deny liability to pay compensation in mesothelioma cases. Unite is
fighting to preserve the right to compensation for people who
develop the fatal disease, mesothelioma, caused by exposure to
asbestos in the work place.
Unite joint General Secretary Derek Simpson said:
"The union is supporting this test case to protect the
right of mesothelioma sufferers and their families to obtain
compensation, and to make sure that insurance companies pay out on
behalf of the employers they insured when workers were being
negligently exposed to asbestos.
"What's at stake here is millions of pounds which
should be used to compensate asbestos victims and not be pocketed
by the insurance industry. It is a sickening scenario and we will
fight every step of the way to see that insurers are not allowed to
pass the buck and dodge their liabilities."
Charles' daughter, Maureen Edwards said: "It's
important to us that we win this test case, not just for our
family, but for all those families, now and in the future, who will
be devastated by this awful disease."
"My dad died a painful death due to mesothelioma and
watching him go through it was agonising for all of us. But now our
grief and sorrow is being dragged out and made worse by the
insurers who we feel are doing all they can to get away without
accepting any responsibility.
"We will not be able to move on with our lives until
we have finally achieved justice for my dad."
In what has become known as the "trigger issue" test case the
insurers are arguing that the policies they sold to employers to
insure against liability for workers becoming ill or injured due to
their work, are "triggered" by the development of the disease
rather than by the exposure to asbestos. Their argument breaches
the fundamental principle that the person who caused the damage
(i.e. by exposing workers to asbestos) pays and will be indemnified
by their insurer. It is a heartlessly opportunistic attempt by
insurers to take advantage of a recent Court of Appeal case
involving ' Public Liability' insurance. Public Liability insurance
policies are written to trigger liability when injuries develop,
but Employers Liability insurance, as in this test case, was
written on the understanding that the insurer's liability is
triggered by the asbestos exposure which caused the damage .
Often the time lapse between exposure to the deadly dust and the
development of mesothelioma can be longer than 40 years.
If the insurance companies are successful it will lead to
thousands of asbestos victims and their families being deprived of
their right to compensation.
In the test case, supported by Unite, the family of mesothelioma
victim Charles Michael O'Farrell have previously been awarded
compensation by the court of £152,000. The insurers have refused to
pay this.
Whether the family ever receive the compensation depends on the
outcome of the High Court test case. The decision is expected in
the autumn but is likely to be appealed by whichever party loses.
It is widely anticipated that the trigger issue test case may
eventually be taken to the House of Lords.
Charles O'Farrell, a retired member of Unite, who died in 2003,
was exposed to asbestos while working as a steel erector for
Humphreys & Glasgow Limited from 1964 to 1967. The company
ceased trading in1986 and is currently in liquidation.
When Charles was exposed to asbestos his employer was insured by
Excess Insurance Company Limited.
Excess is now refusing to pay to Mr O'Farrell's family the damages
the court ordered against the employer it insured.
If the High Court finds in favour of Excess it will mean thousands
of mesothelioma victims and their families will be unable to obtain
compensation because, if by the time the worker develops the
disease the employer who exposed them to asbestos is defunct, no
insurance will exist.
- ends -
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
Notes to Editors
1. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by
exposure to asbestos. There is no cure and around 2,000 people a
year are currently diagnosed with the disease in the
UK.
2. For decades the insurance industry has accepted in
mesothelioma cases that the Employers' Liability insurer who was on
cover at the time the asbestos exposure occurred is liable to
respond to the claim. The industry has seized upon a recent Court
of Appeal case, [Bolton MBC v Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd [2006]
EWCA Civ 50] which ruled that in Public Liability insurance the
policy is triggered by the development of the mesothelioma. The
insurers in the trigger issue test case argue that the same
interpretation should now be applied in Employers' Liability
mesothelioma claims.
3. Compensation for the asbestos-related condition pleural
plaques was ended last year by the House of Lords as a result of a
test case brought by the insurance industry. People with pleural
plaques had previously been entitled to compensation since 1982. It
is estimated that as a result of ending the right to compensation
for pleural plaques the insurance industry has saved approximately
£1.4 billion
