Legal representatives acting for asbestos victims have criticised a High Court ruling against Royal & Sun Alliance.
Meanwhile the insurer has insisted its asbestos reserves are sufficient to cover future asbestos claims.
Legal representatives acting for asbestos victims have criticised a High Court ruling against Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA).
Thompsons Solicitors attacked the ruling, which said R&SA must pay claims against manufacturer Turner and Newall (T&N). The court ruling only affects people exposed to asbestos after 1969. However, the majority of claims in the UK, which T&N face, relate to pre-1969 exposure.
Thompsons Solicitors' Ian McFall warned that most of T&N's victims would be unable to claim compensation.
He said: "This ruling is a relief for many of our clients who have been awaiting the outcome of this trial. The Royal is still fighting this case to try to avoid paying anything to asbestos victims based on further legal arguments which will be dealt with at a second trial."
Meanwhile, R&SA insisted its asbestos reserves are sufficient to cover claims. An R&SA statement said: "Royal & Sun Alliance takes its responsibilities as an insurer extremely seriously and has a great deal of sympathy for any affected employee or former employee of Turner & Newall and their families.
"The ruling involves a unique situation and the judgment covers just part of this complicated case, following the court's earlier decision to split proceedings. It does not mean the end of what is likely to be a protracted process. Given the complexity of the legal and contractual issues involved, we will need a little time to study the detail of today's 156-page judgment and consider our next course of action.
"While it is our policy not to comment on our reserving for individual incidents, we can confirm that even in the light of this judgment we remain confident that our overall reserves, which are subject to regular review, are within an appropriate range."
