COURT OF APPEAL RULING ON MESOTHELIOMA LIABILITY

Early day motion 794, tabled 12 October 2010 by Natascha Engel (Labour). Signed by 60 members.

That this House is concerned that the implications of the decision by the Court of Appeal on 8 October 2010 will be that many victims of asbestos-related disease will die without the certainty that their families will be entitled to compensation; agrees it is the exposure to asbestos that can lead to the development of fatal diseases such as mesothelioma and that the trigger must therefore be the point of exposure and not, as challenged by the insurance industry, the point the disease develops which can be many decades later; further agrees with the High Court ruling in 2008 that the insurers who should pay compensation are those who provided cover to the employer at the time of the asbestos exposure; notes this is the latest of many attacks by the insurance industry on compensation for working people who were negligently exposed to deadly asbestos; and calls on the Association of British Insurers to ceaseits unrelenting attack on the victims of asbestos.

Signatures by party: Labour 49, Liberal Democrat 3, Conservative 2, DUP 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Alliance 1, Plaid Cymru 1.