The Decision
On 21 November, Mr. Justice Burton handed down his long-awaited decision in the six test cases comprising the Employers’ Liability Policy ‘Trigger’ Litigation. The court was considering how employers’ liability (EL) policies should respond to the claims of the victims of mesothelioma. In a judgment that has far-reaching consequences, the judge ruled that all EL policies, however they are worded, are triggered by exposure to asbestos and not when, many years later, the disease manifests itself (the date of the tumour). In other words, it is in every case the insurers whose policies are in force at the time the employees inhaled the asbestos fibres who must indemnify the employers. The ruling has upheld decades of market practice and has avoided a situation where many of the victims of mesothelioma (and their dependants) would have been unable to recover compensation.
On 21 November, Mr. Justice Burton handed down his long-awaited decision in the six test cases comprising the Employers’ Liability Policy ‘Trigger’ Litigation. The court was considering how employers’ liability (EL) policies should respond to the claims of the victims of mesothelioma. In a judgment that has far-reaching consequences, the judge ruled that all EL policies, however they are worded, are triggered by exposure to asbestos and not when, many years later, the disease manifests itself (the date of the tumour). In other words, it is in every case the insurers whose policies are in force at the time the employees inhaled the asbestos fibres who must indemnify the employers. The ruling has upheld decades of market practice and has avoided a situation where many of the victims of mesothelioma (and their dependants) would have been unable to recover compensation.
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