Viewpoint
For your business
Viewpoint Summer
- News-in-brief
- Travel disruption - your rights
- MoJ reforms for personal injury claims
- Flood and Water Management Act 2010
- Government decision on pleural plaques
- Insurance and risk
- Taking the fall - the real cost of slips, trips and falls
- Are you losing money to toll fraud?
- Market News
- Time for change?
- Life begins at 40.....
- 40th anniversary - part II
- Industry focus
- Empty threats - are your unoccupied buildings at risk?
Government decision on pleural plaques
On 25th February 2010 the Government decided not to overturn the 2007 House of Lords Ruling and reinstate the rights of pleural plaque sufferers to claim compensation.
The Health and Safety Executive defines pleural plaques as small areas of scarring on the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos, they do not cause symptoms.
Following a consultation that included medical evidence from the Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales and the industrial Injuries Advisory Council, the Government found there was not sufficient evidence to justify overturning the House of Lords ruling.
However, the Government has decided to make payments to those who had begun, but not resolved, legal claims for compensation before the ruling was passed.
The decision follows The Damages (asbestos-related conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009 that came into force on 17th June 2009, effectively reinstating the rights of pleural plaque sufferers to claim compensation in Scotland.
For more information about Asbestos-related diseases visit www.HSE.co.uk. For more information about legislation relating to pleural plaques visit www.justice.gov.uk/about/pleural-plaques.htm
Next Steps
To discuss the issues raised in this article or for further information, please speak to your usual Perkins Slade contact. Alternatively you can call 0121 698 8000 and ask to speak to a member of our corporate team or email corporate@perkins-slade.com
