Supreme Court Monday 5th December 2011

On appeal from the Court of Appeal Civil Division (England and Wales)


The construction of employers’ liability policies, in the context of liabilities incurred by employers for mesothelioma, under which an indemnity is provided if an injury or disease is ‘sustained’ or ‘contracted’ during the period of insurance.

There are nine appeals to the Supreme Court arising out of six separate actions. They arise from the deaths from mesothelioma of employees who inhaled asbestos fibres during employment. In each case the employees’ personal representatives or the employers liable to them seek to recover loss from the employers’ insurers under policies of employers’ liability insurance covering periods from the late 1940s to 1998. The principal issue is what constitutes the ‘trigger’ for liability of an insurer to indemnify the insured within any policy period: in particular whether it is the tortious exposure of a victim to asbestos dust, or the onset of mesothelioma.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers

Lord Mance of Frognal

Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore

Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony

Lord Dyson

Time estimate number of days 8 days

Hearing date 05 Dec 2011



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