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Appeal court reverses ruling over asbestos
Potential £1bn compensation payout facing insurance industry wiped out as victims live with 'time bomb' threat
Grace Hammond
A potential claim totalling 1bn facing the insurance industry in compensation for asbestos exposure was wiped out by a Court of Appeal ruling yesterday.
By a majority, a panel of judges headed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, reversed the finding of a High Court judge that pleural plaque sufferers could claim damages.
It has been estimated that hundreds of thousands of people in the UK could be affected by pleural plaques and would have each been entitled to claim compensation of thousands of pounds under the High Court ruling.
But yesterday the Lord Chief Justice and Lord Justice Longmore ruled that although pleural plaques showed a person had been exposed to asbestos it did not mean they were suffering from any disease and therefore could not make a claim.
But the judges agreed the controversial case should go to the House of Lords.
Lord Phillips said: "There are difficult issues of principle and this will affect a very large number of claims and in these circumstances we have concluded that we should take the rare course of giving permission to appeal to the House of Lords on the issue of liability."
A spokesman for solicitors representing some pleural plaque sufferers said the decision was a severe blow to thousands of people who lived with the fear of developing serious respiratory diseases from exposure to asbestos.
The appeals, which were heard last November, were brought by Norwich Union which acted as an umbrella group for insurance companies which argued that compensation payments for pleural plaques should be ended as claimants usually had no physical symptoms other than scarring to their lungs.
A group of test cases was considered by Mr Justice Holland in the High Court at Manchester in November 2004 when he ruled sufferers could pursue claims for compensation, laying down guideline figures for damages. He ruled those who chose a full and final payment should receive between 6,500 and 7,000 and those who opted for provisional payment, 3,500-4,000.
Pleural plaques are areas of thick scar tissue that form in the chest lining and diaphragm.
Adrian Budgen, head of the asbestos diseases litigation unit with Irwin Mitchell which is representing more than 200 sufferers, said: "Today's ruling is terrible news for pleural plaque sufferers. The condition is a marker of unprotected exposure to asbestos, almost always a direct result of negligence on the part of claimants' employers.
"There is usually a gap of more than 20 years between exposure to asbestos and the formation of pleural plaques. The need to identify witnesses and employers' liability insurers at an early stage whilst still traceable is crucial to any future claims if a more serious disease develops as a result of the employer's negligence."
He added: "Simply because the scarring on the lungs is not visible to the naked eye should not mean that this condition is deemed harmless.
"People diagnosed with pleural plaques have to live with the fear produced by the knowledge they could develop a terminal cancer, such as mesothelioma, and this 'sword of Damocles' hanging over them means they will never know whether they have a normal life expectancy."
Trade union Amicus and its lawyers acting for asbestos claimants across the UK condemned the Appeal Court ruling.
A spokesman said the decision, unless overturned by the Law Lords, would bring an end to an established right to compensation which had existed for 20 years.
Amicus general secretary Derek Simpson said: "This judgment is dreadful and harms many of our members who have been exposed in their working lives to asbestos. We believe that people with pleural plaques should be compensated and we will fight on."
Norwich Union said the Appeal Court made the point "pleural plaques are symptomless, have no adverse effect on any bodily function and, being internal, have no effect on appearance".
Dominic Clayden, Norwich Union's technical claims director, said: "We welcome the judgment and believe it to be a pragmatic result on the issue of compensation being awarded for an asymptomatic condition. The issue of compensating claimants with serious asbestos-related conditions or who suffer from impairment as a result of exposure to asbestos has never been in question and they will continue to receive compensation."
The decision was welcomed by the Association of British Insurers.
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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