Access Legal backing proposals for an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau
Published: 11:10AM BST 07 May 2010
The consultation, which closed on 5 May 2010, was seeking input on whether an ELIB should be set up to ensure compensation is available for those affected by work related disease where no insurance policy can be traced.
An ELIB would also implement a central storage system for insurance policies, and asbestos victims welcomed the government consultation when it was first announced.
Our reply follows a response we'd already made to the government consultation, and Access Legal from Shoosmiths contends that an ELIB should be introduced, and funded by the insurance industry.
Insurance companies took insurance premiums many years ago from companies, but because asbestos related illnesses can take many years to develop, by the time a person comes to claim, frequently the company no longer exists, records have been lost and it can be difficult to find which insurer provided cover.
The proposed scheme would operate in a similar way to the Motor Insurance Bureau, which ensures the victims of road traffic accident claims are compensated where the negligent driver is uninsured.
With more than 2,000 people-a-year dying from mesothelioma - an asbestos related cancer - it's important that these people are not denied the right to claim for compensation simply because an insurer cannot be found to pay out on the claim.
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