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UK asbestos ruling mirrors Australian legal stance

UK insurers now have the same liability for asbestos-related diseases as those in Australia after a new UK court ruling.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the insurer which was on-risk at the time of asbestos exposure is liable to pay out on the policyholder’s liability policies, despite the fact that symptoms of some asbestos-related illnesses, such as mesothelioma, can take decades to develop.

It overturned an earlier Court of Appeals ruling which had sided with a small group of UK run-off insurers who had argued they should not be liable to pay compensation for asbestos-related illnesses if the disease emerged after the policy had ceased.

The ruling marks the end of a five-year legal battle over the issue in the UK.

While the insurance industry estimates it could cost insurers between £600 million ($922 million) and £5 billion ($7.7 billion), the UK Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the ruling.

“We have always opposed the attempt to change the basis on which mesothelioma claims should be paid, as argued by those who brought this litigation,” says ABI Director of General Insurance and Health Nick Starling.

“[This] ruling by the Supreme Court has confirmed what most in the industry have always understood: that the insurer on cover when the claimant was exposed to asbestos should pay the claim, rather than the insurer on cover when the mesothelioma develops.”

Local compensation law firm Maurice Blackburn says the decision will “give hope” to Australians with asbestos-related diseases.

The firm’s national asbestos practice group leader, Andrew Dimsey, says any legal developments in other countries “give hope to sufferers who have to fight hard to get compensation from employers”.

“It mirrors the current legal position in Australia where courts have ruled that insurers’ liability is triggered at the point of exposure.”