News
Pleural Plaque Test Cases
Posted: 21-02-2005
We currently represent many hundreds of clients who have developed pleural plaques (a type of scarring of the lungs)as a result of having been negligently exposed to asbestos by their former employers.
Their cases are now the subject of a considerable degree of uncertainty following the judgment in a test case given in Newcastle upon Tyne on 15th February 2005 by Judge Holland.
Marrons, along with a group of other solicitors, have been fighting the cases on behalf of the Claimants.
The cases were brought by a number of insurance companies who are seeking to overturn 20 years of settled law. They are trying to persuade the Courts that no compensation whatsoever should be paid to individuals with pleural plaques, alternatively, that the amounts paid should be substantially reduced.
The law until now said that someone with pleural plaques could expect to be awarded in the region of £10,000-£15,000 on a full and final basis or £5,000-£6,000 on a provisional damage basis.
Judge Holland has now accepted that pleural plaques are an injury deserving compensation but has reduced payments to £6,000-£7,000 on a full and final basis and to £3,500 on a provisional damage basis. This is, however, not the end of the story. The insurers have already been given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. There is the prospect of this case ultimately ending up in the House of Lords.
The effect of all this on individual Claimants will be to cause worry and anxiety. Many will find settlement of their claims delayed as insurers refuse to make settlement offers until the outcome of the appeal is known.
Our belief throughout the litigation has been that an employee should be entitled to expect his employer to provide a safe place of work. The majority of our clients worked for employers who were well aware of the health risks posed by asbestos dust yet still failed to take even basis precautions to safeguard the health of their employees. The result has been an epidemic of ill health caused by asbestos which is not due to peak until 2015-2020.
We will continue to represent the interests of our clients in the test case throughout the appeal process.
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