Employers liability, asbestosis compensation and the need for a national databases
In light of the fact that so many asbestosis compensation claimants have been frustrated in their efforts to receive compensation due to difficulties in tracing the relevant insurers, it seems surprising that the government continues to resist pressure to set up a national database of employers' liability policies.
They argue the cost of any such database should be viewed as prohibitive. Yet the tragic experiences of asbestos cancer victims who have been foiled, or at least unfairly delayed, in their attempts to claim compensation from their former employers should be seen as a lesson in the truer, human, cost.
Things need not have been that way. The Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, despite being a landmark piece of legislation protecting the welfare of employees in the event of workplace injury, missed a trick by failing to provide a means of tracing insurers in cases of illness where many years have elapsed between the date of employment and the date of illness.
This failing has proved to be particularly pertinent in the cases of illnesses and diseases with long incubation periods. Asbestosis and asbestos cancers such and mesothelioma have highlighted this shortcoming in the system more than any other industrial illness.
The need for reform
Fortunately, there are specialist no win, no fee solicitors working in the UK who are usually able, through investigative work, to trace the relevant insurers. However, this is not always easy, and shows us just why having a national database of employer liability, similar to that which exists for MOTs, should be a priority of the lawmakers in this country.
Tom Jones, director of policy and public affairs with legal firm Thompsons' has commented on the need for the Association of British Insurers to initiate reform, "The ABI scheme is hardly worth having without substantial reform. Real reform won't happen as it isn't in the interests of the insurers to be identified. It is ineffective where it hurts people most, in long-tail disease claims where the terminally ill have little time left.
"Insurers have the information claimants need and they should be made to live up to their responsibilities. It should be run under the auspices of the Compensation Act regulator or the Compensation Recovery Unit."
It is also worth remembering that few people anticipated the workplace asbestos illness epidemic and none the billions of pounds of mesothelioma and asbestosis compensation that would eventually result. For, however innocuous a workplace may seem, there is no way of telling what the future will reveal for its workers.
No win, no fee solicitors specialising in asbestos cancer claims
Once viewed as a wonder-substance, with the hindsight of history asbestos has shown itself to have a tragic legacy.
We have no win, no fee solicitors on are panel firms who specialise in resolving this kind of claim. They have a national reputation for excellence and offer their services to you on a completely cost-free basis.
Win or lose, we never charge a penny, deliver 100 percent compensation to all winning clients, and protect all unsuccessful claimants, who represent only a fractional minority, from any costs incurred by the defendant side.
Contact us
Being governed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, you can rest assured of our total professionalism in dealing with claims for mesothelioma and asbestosis compensation. Fill out an online claim form, have an echat, request a callback or phone us now on 0800 10 757 95.
