Compensation for Asbestos Sufferers

Health insurance companies are being asked to help fund research into asbestos in an bid to alleviate sufferers symptoms. Many suffers who worked with asbestos in the 60's and 70's have already received compensation from the UK government who set up a scheme to help in 1979. Many of these individuals did not claim on their insurance.

Since October last year the government have been reclaiming any insurance payouts that victims have received. Before this date however the medical insurance got to keep the monies they would otherwise have to have paid out. The Daily Mirror have launched a campaign to put pressure on the insurance companies to donate some of the saved money to help asbestos sufferers.

According to some sources private medical insurance companies have saved £14 million over the last ten years and this is what the Daily Mirror Campaign wants them to donate. According to the Institute of British Insurers this is not the case as they would have used projected compensation figures in their calculations of premiums.

The Daily Mirror campaign is using recent positive business figures from some insurance companies to add weight to their argument:

Aviva - (Norwich Union) - operating profits of £2.3 billion. £875 million in dividends to shareholders

AXA - £1.2 billion profits last year. £835 million in dividends to shareholders.

Royal Sun Alliance - pre-tax profits of £759 million last year. £250 million in dividends to shareholders

Zurich - £3.5 billion profits last year earning. £913 million to shareholders

Tony Whitston, of the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum, said:

'The insurance industry saved millions of pounds in compensation that was instead paid by taxpayers. They should do the decent thing and donate this money to researching ways to help future victims of the asbestos timebomb.'

It is expected that asbestos compensation claims will not stop until 2030 as the last type of dangerous asbestos was not banned until 1985.

It remains to be seen if the private medical insurance market will respond further to this call for help. It will also be interesting to see if individuals who have received compensation will be claiming on their insurance if they know that any monies will be reclaimed by the government.