Asbestos compensation must remain a top priority
With a new incoming government, it is vital that existing Department for Work and Pensions proposals to improve access to compensation for victims of asbestos industrial disease are not forgotten. This was the message sent out in a recent press release from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Employers are legally required to take out an insurance policy to cover the costs of paying compensation to their employees who fall victim to injuries or asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening or asbestos-related lung cancer. The system protects the rights of employees against the inability of employers to meet the costs of paying the compensation that the victims of asbestos inhalation deserve and ensures that compensation remains available even after the company in question has gone into receivership.
The DWP recently closed a consultation on the introduction of two new measures that would significantly assist this insurance scheme in meeting its aims. These were a tracing office, to assist those with asbestos industrial diseases and other conditions in tracking down the insurers of their previous employers; and a last resort compensation fund for those people unable to trace the insurance policy of their previous employer.
People with a legitimate claim to asbestos compensation who were unable to find the insurer either because they did not keep a record of it or because any such records have since been destroyed are currently at risk of being left without a remedy (though there are other means through which compensation might be obtained, such as the various state benefits that are available to the victims of asbestos-related conditions). The two new measures, if introduced, would significantly reduce the number of people dying from the painful effects of exposure to asbestos fibres without the compensation to which they are entitled and which would provide them some comfort in their time of need and financial support for their loved ones in the future.
As the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers said: ‘All employees have the right to go to work and come home unharmed. But, when they are injured or made ill by their employers, they must be able to claim fair compensation for their injuries.’ The Asbestos Compensation Claims team at Humphreys & Co. Solicitors has been working with the victims of asbestos-related conditions for decades and will continue to support any new measure with a realistic prospect of improving access to justice in this field.
