Insurers can expect huge asbestos pay-outs for years to come, experts warned today, following a £180,000...
Insurers can expect huge asbestos pay-outs for years to come, experts warned today, following a £180,000 compensation award by the High Court.
The widow of a man who died after exposure to asbestos at Buckingham Palace was awarded £177,901 to cover the cost of her husband's care and loss of earnings, as she had given up work to care for him full-time.
Mary Costello's husband John, who had worked as a maintenance worker at the palace from 1970 to 1992, died in September 2001 of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer.
Roberta Pyle, associate and industrial disease specialist at law firm Eversheds, said: “This claim illustrates the dangers of unprotected exposure to asbestos fibres even in the unlikeliest of settings. Exposure can occur anywhere where lagged boilers and pipes exist – these include buildings such as palaces as well as more traditional industrial settings.
“The fact that exposure here is alleged until the mid 1980's coupled with a 50-year latency period for mesothelioma shows that the peak for these claims is still to be reached.
“Insurers and defendants will need to make provision for substantial asbestos pay-outs for many years to come.”
