Court Date Friday 8th October 2010

El Trigger Litigation

The verdict in the trigger litigation appeal is due to be handed down on Friday at the Royal Court Of Justice London. If the case is won by the victims & families of those exposed to asbestos negligently by their employers it will force insurance companies to finally pay the compensation they have been fighting to hold onto for the last few years. Below is a short outline of the case and why it spent so long in the courts.

Cases were heard together to resolve an important dispute over the relevant ‘trigger’ under various employers’ liability insurance policies which applied to employers of those who suffered and died from mesothelioma. The EL Trigger trial focused on what had to happen during the period of insurance when the insuring clause of a policy stipulated either that an injury must be "sustained” or that a disease must be "contracted” during the period of insurance. The insurers will argue on appeal that the relevant ‘trigger’ under the policies is not the exposure to asbestos, but the development, many years later, of mesothelioma

The hearing has hinged on which policy was key - the one at the time of exposure or when a worker becomes ill. Employers take out liability insurance to insure them against the cost of legal action by staff injured at work.

But a group of insurance firms had questioned which policy should be enacted. They argued during the nine-week hearing that the policy in place at the time the cancer develops was the one that a compensation claim should be brought against rather than the policy that was in place when the worker was employed by the firm.

They said this was common-sense as victims could have worked for several employers where they were exposed to asbestos. However, this stance was challenged by families, employers and one insurance firm. Solicitors representing the families involved in the case said this would make it harder to secure compensation.

One of the key problems is that many modern-day insurance schemes have exemptions for asbestos. That then only leaves the employer for the victims to go after, but as the disease takes so long to develop many of the firms have ceased to exist.