PLEURAL PLAQUES DECISION 27TH NOVEMBER 2005

 

Court of Appeal ruling in the pleural plaques test cases.


What does it mean for claimants and support groups?
The Court of Appeal has decided that people with pleural plaques should not receive any compensation.


This fact sheet is intended as a summary of the decision of the Court and what it means for claimants. It shouldn’t be relied upon as legal advice.


What are Pleural Plaques?


Pleural plaques are areas of scarring which form on the lining of the lung and are commonly associated with a history of asbestos exposure. Pleural plaques rarely cause any symptoms and do not in themselves progress into any more serious type of asbestos related disease. But people with pleural plaques usually suffer anxiety about the consequences for their health.


The level of asbestos exposure needed to cause pleural plaques gives rise to an increased risk (usually between 1% - 5%) that the sufferer may develop disabling and sometimes fatal asbestos related illnesses.

 

 


What’s the background to the test cases?


In 2005 the insurance industry decided to challenge the compensation claims in a test case for a group of men with pleural plaques.


The High Court rejected this challenge and upheld the right of people with pleural plaques to claim compensation. It said that the right to claim was for a combination of three factors that arise from a diagnosis of pleural plaques:

  • The existence of the scarring.

 

  • The increased risk of development of a sometimes fatal disease.

 

  • The anxiety caused by the knowledge of asbestos exposure and the increased risks

 

 

 


What did the Court of Appeal decide?

 


The Court of Appeal (CA) overturned the High Court decision. Two of the three CA judges said that pleural plaques were not an injury. They decided that if the three factors that were recognised by the High Court were not compensatable individually then they couldn’t be added together to justify compensation. In effect they suggested that pleural plaques were trivial injuries. By a majority decision of two to one the CA accepted the insurance companies’ arguments that included:

 

 

  • People were being encouraged to bring claims which were stressful;

 

  • That the costs of bringing the claims could be greater than the compensation, and even; that the right to get compensation shouldn’t depend upon a claimant’s ‘good fortune’ of developing pleural plaques whilst other workers who had also been exposed to asbestos but did not have pleural plaques would not have a claim.

 

 

 

Lady Justice Smith


  • Lady Justice Smith dissented stating that she did not accept that pleural plaques are a ‘trivial injury’. It was a real injury that brought with it worry about the future.

 

  • She pointed out that for over 20 years courts have accepted that people with pleural plaques have had a valid claim.

 

  • There was no evidence that the legal costs of bringing a claim were disproportionate.

 

  • In her opinion justice demanded that people with pleural plaques be compensated.

 

 

 

What does this mean for people with claims?

 


The judgment brings to an end 20 years of legal decisions and means that compensation is no longer payable in pleural plaques claims. As the judgement stands it will reap a substantial windfall saving of millions of pounds for the insurance industry and leaves people with a condition, which is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, by the negligence of employers, with no right to compensation.
Appeal to the House of Lords


The Court of Appeal accepted that the issues should be considered by a higher court and they allowed the Claimants to appeal to the House of Lords. RASAG understands that it could take up to two years for that case to be heard by the House of Lords.


What happens in the meantime?

 


RASAG is aware that people who have been diagnosed with pleural plaques will be confused by the decision and will need advice and assistance. Anyone who has been diagnosed with pleural plaques can receive free and confidential advice from a RASAG volunteer.

 


Anyone who has Pleural Plaques or who has been affected in any way by asbestos-related disease should call RASAG on 0113 231 1010 for Advice and Support.