THE employers of two men who died of mesothelioma won their appeal to change the law, with the result that their widows, Sylvia Barker and Mary Murray, will not get full compensation.
Both widows have lost an appeal mounted by their husbands' former employers to change the law because their late husbands had more than one employer and at least one of those no longer exists or was not insured.
The decision follows the defeat of an attempt by insurers to end compensation for mesothelioma sufferers altogether in test cases in 2002. The insurance industry is now likely to save tens of millions of pounds annually.
One woman whose case will be affected by the hearing is Beryl Gray, the widow of Peter Gray, who died in August 2003.
Mrs Gray said: 'I've had three years of misery since Peter died a painful death from this terrible disease. Employers and insurance companies care more about the money than they do about being fair to people like me and my husband, who suffered so much. Peter didn't want to die and he certainly didn't want his employers who killed him to avoid their legal responsibility. Justice hasn't been done.'
Joanne Candlish, from Thompsons Solicitors in Liverpool, said: 'The court has, on a legal technicality which will make no sense to anyone but the driest of lawyers, deprived our client of full compensation for the death of her husband. The real winner here is the insurance industry, which now stands to save billions of pounds. We will be urging trade unions and asbestos victim support groups to press for legislation to counteract this massive injustice.'
James Thompson, from Pickering & Partners, said: 'The Lords seem to be saying that employers can be excused paying in full for their past law-breaking activities while their insurers and their shareholders will get a multi-million-pound windfall, even though in the UK they can well afford to pay full asbestos compensation.
'Severe financial hardship will result from individual awards being slashed by tens of thousands of pounds. We call on Parliament to correct this massive injustice.'
The change in the law has far-reaching implications - 1,800 people die each year of mesothelioma and the numbers are rising. Many had contact with asbestos in more than one job. It is common for employers to have ceased trading, with no trace of their insurers.
The majority of people diagnosed with mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos at work without being warned of the dangers.
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