Supreme Court To Decide When Asbestos Claims Can Be Made Friday 9th December 2011

The Supreme Court will begin hearing in December an appeal on a series of test cases relating to when asbestos claims are 'triggered'. The cases will end the uncertainty about whether victims dying from the asbestos illness, mesothelioma, and their families will be entitled to claim compensation. The appeal focuses on the link between exposure to asbestos and the manifestation of the disease mesothelioma, as well as whether insurers can avoid claims by relying on the wording of the policy. Asbestos was widely used in many industries in the 1950s until the early 1980s before being finally banned in 1999. However mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, can take 30 or more years after the initial exposure to develop. According to the Health and Safety Executive 2,321 people died in 2009 from mesothelioma and this is set to increase within the next 5 years. In 2008 the High Court heard a series of test cases brought against insurers who were refusing to provide cover to negligent employers. The insurers argued that there was no "injury sustained" or "disease contracted" during the course of employment to qualify for cover under the policies because the employees only developed mesothelioma years later. The High Court disagreed, finding that there was "injury sustained" and "disease contracted" when the mesothelioma was caused, namely at the date of inhalation. As the insurance policies were in force on that date, the judge found the insurers' liability to indemnify had been triggered. The insurance companies collectively appealed. The Court of Appeal in October 2010 found that the High Court had been, in part, wrong in their decision and that employer's liability insurance is "triggered" not by the exposure to...