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Battle With Insurers Over Payout Threat

Posted on: Saturday, 5 November 2005, 06:00 CST

By Liz Hands

Hundreds of workers in the North-East are fighting an insurance industry bid to scrap compensation payouts for an asbestos-related disease.

A High Court ruling last year said people should continue to be paid for pleural plaques ( a scarring in the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos exposure ( but the level of compensation was reduced.

The condition does not have any symptoms, but shows sufferers have been damaged by asbestos and are therefore at risk of developing fatal diseases like mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer, or asbestosis.

Now, in an appeal case due to begin later this month, insurance firm Norwich Union, is arguing for a complete ban on paying out to individuals with pleural plaques, who the firm describes as the "worried well".

In a counter appeal, head of asbestos litigation at Newcastle- based Thompsons solicitors, Ian McFall, is fighting to increase compensation to previous levels.

The landmark case will decide what pleural plaques sufferers are paid in the future.

"For the men who get this, the diagnosis is a real part of their lives and a real part of their families' lives," said Mr McFall yesterday.

"That's why it was wrong to interfere with traditional levels of award established in numerous county court decisions over the past 20 years."

No official figures are available, but Mr McFall estimates 840 people a year in the North-East ( many of them former shipbuilders ( are diagnosed with pleural plaques.

Compensation levels were reduced last November for people diagnosed with pleural plaques ( from between pounds 5,000-pounds 6,000 to pounds 3,500-pounds 4,000.

In cases where sufferers accept a full and final award, the payout has been reduced from pounds 10,000-pounds 15,000, to pounds 6,000-pounds 7,000.

"I was disappointed with that decision. Levels of award were reasonable and it is unfair to reduce those," added Mr McFall. "There are three reasons sufferers should continue to be compensated ( an increased risk of developing more serious disease, the anxiety caused, and the physical scaring that shows asbestos damage has been caused."

But Norwich Union spokesman David Ross said last night: "Pleural plaques don't cause pain or suffering. These people are the worried well. If someone has a horrendous disease like mesothelioma then, quite rightly, they will get hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation. We are asking whether it is right to pay out to someone who is just worried about what they might get."

North-East Cancer Research UK spokeswoman Julia Haran said: "Pleural plaques are a signal sufferers might run into further problems, but not a direct cause of mesothelioma."

Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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