A issue with employers liability insurance claims was sorted out by a recent ruling. The situation was to do with historic claims involving asbestos. As many people know, asbestos can release harmful fibers when broken. If these fibers are inhaled, they can cause damage to the internal system especially the lungs by causing them to inflame and develop into cancerous tumors.
It can take years, even decades for symptoms to develop and consequently it has always been unknown as to whether employees who are victims to this awful disease should be making claims against the employers liability insurance that was in force at the time of the inhalation or at the time of discovering the tumor itself.
The judge has decided that a claim can be made against the historic insurers. This ruling will hopefully clear up an ongoing uncertainty in this particular claim for all future claimants. It is a difficult one to call due to the amount of time between the events but I believe the right decision has been made.
The only problem could be tracing who the employers liability insurance company was at the time of inhalation but businesses have to legally have this insurance in place and keep documentary proof for at least 40 years. As long as they comply to this then it should make life easier.