Mesothelioma Solicitors Win
Compensation Claims

Mesothelioma sufferers won a vitally important case in the High Court in November 2008 when the court was asked to decide which insurer should pay compensation for a victim of mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma occurs when someone is exposed to large amounts of asbestos dust, usually in the course of their employment (although some people have suffered when cleaning clothes covered in asbestos dust). The symptoms of this type of cancer include shortness of breath, chest pain and also can include loss of weight.

To form a successful claim for compensation the mesothelioma victims’ solicitors must prove that they were exposed to asbestos dust during the course of their employment. If they can prove that, then an insurance company will settle the claim for compensation. However, which insurance company was the problem. Insurers attempted to argue that if the liability to pay compensation was triggered when the exposure to asbestos occurred, that as this might be as much as 40 years ago and outside the period of cover of the policy, they should not have to pay compensation.

Fortunately for mesothelioma sufferers and specialist mesothelioma solicitors Mr Justice Burton said “It is plain that there is, albeit unknown to the sufferer, an injury and a disease present in his or her body well before it makes itself manifest by his finding difficulty in breathing.” Therefore, the claim stemmed from the exposure to the dust and not only when the symptoms arise. If it had been the latter case, then many modern day policies which avoid liability for exposure to asbestos would have allowed the insurers to wriggle out of paying compensation for mesothelioma.

One victim died from mesothelioma in 2003 and his family were claiming compensation from the insurer of his firm in the 1960’s, Excess. They argued that the policy from the 1960’s should not be valid, but were not successful. If they had been, as his employer had folded in the 1980’s his family would not have received any compensation.

Nearly 2000 people every year are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year, but this is expected to rise as more people develop symptoms. These people will now have a much greater chance of claiming compensation for mesothelioma due to this latest ruling.

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