Merseyside law firms braced for hoped-for pleural plaques law change

by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post
Apr 21 2009

MERSEYSIDE’S asbestos specialists are braced for “hundreds” of compensation claims after a law change was mooted in Parliament.

An imminent announcement is expected on whether sufferers of Pleural Plaques can claim compensation.

Claimants lost a test case in the House of Lords in 2007.

But Scottish law makers recently resolved to allow claims for sufferers north of the border.

Before the Easter recess, Mr Brown told the House of Commons an announcement would be made on the issue after the break.

Pleural plaques are scarring of the lungs caused by asbestos. Although they have no physical symptoms, they show a patient has been exposed to lethal asbestos.

Jean Harkin, partner at Harkin Lloyd solicitors, said the mental anguish of knowing there is a chance of developing potentially fatal diseases like mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, is what claims could be based on.

Her firm alone has hundreds of clients whose claims were put on ice following the House of Lords decision. She said a law change could unlock a nationwide compensation pot worth millions of pounds. She told LDP Legal: “They live, in effect, with the knowledge that they have been exposed and could get worse and develop a serious illness.

“They used to be able to get compensation for the mental anguish they suffer.

“We have claimants phone us up every week who have heard that something’s going to change and they are looking to their lawyers for support.”

During Prime Minister’s Questions on April 1, Mr Brown was asked what he planned to do about the imbalance for sufferers in England and Wales. He said: “It is right that we look again at this as a result of legal actions that have been taken about the obligations of insurance companies.

“The Justice Secretary will make a statement on this when we return after Easter.”

Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at Thompsons Solicitors, said: “The Prime Minister’s statement that an announcement will be made after Easter is welcome, but it still leaves people with pleural plaques waiting longer than expected for the outcome.”