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Insurance companies take asbestos law to court

Published on 27 May 2009 under category: legal

Insurance companies operating in Scotland are hoping to overturn a new law that allows people to claim for previous exposure to asbestos.

The firms are to take a case through the Court of Session in Edinburgh to get the Damages Act reviewed, which recently ruled that Scottish people with pleural plaques can claim on policies.

Nick Starling, director of general insurance at the Association of British Insurers, said the "fundamental issue" is that a claim should be made on the basis of damage.

"Plural plaques doesn't cause damage, it is a symptom of exposure, and we think that that fundamental change in the law which the Damages Act is bringing in, has to be challenged," he added.

The insurance companies oppose the ruling as the condition causes no pain and has no symptoms.

Involved in the case are Axa, Norwich Union, Royal & Sun Alliance and Zurich Insurance.

However, Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow, described the companies' action as "quite rich" not to pay out after employers have been paying in for a number of years.

A ruling in the House of Lords in 2007 determined that people could not be reimbursed for a heightened risk of having serious disease due to asbestos, but they could claim when suffering from conditions like mesothelioma, which is caused by asbestos.