Lawson-West welcomes the High Court verdict rejecting an attempt by the insurance industry to change the way compensation payments are triggered for asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer. The insurance industry had argued that insurers should not be liable to pay compensation at the time that employees suffering asbestos-related diseases were exposed to asbestos. Instead the insurance industry argued that insurers should pay when the disease developed.
The problem with this argument is that mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases can take over 30 years to develop. By this time the sufferer would have retired and would no longer be covered by employers’ liability insurance. If the insurance industry had been successful in the High Court, then insurers would have saved billions in compensation payments.
Employees, who have developed diseases such as mesothelioma in retirement, would not have been able to claim compensation for being negligently exposed to asbestos by employers. In many cases, the employer is no longer trading by the time an asbestos-related disease develops, so the former employee has to rely on their employers’ liability insurer to get compensation.
If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related illness it is important that you make a claim as soon as possible. Even if the employers you worked for are no longer in business or you cannot remember being exposed to asbestos you should still contact us to discuss making a claim as we may be able to help you. You have 3 years from the date you became aware that your symptoms were due to exposure to asbestos to make a claim. Please phone 0116 212 1000 now, complete one of the on-line forms or text ‘accident’ to 07802 825520 and we’ll call you back.
