Scottish judges upheld the appeal for asbestos compensation law *

BBC News,  12 April 2011 Last updated at 11:25 GMT

Asbestos exposure is the most common reason for pleural plaques

Insurers have lost a legal bid to overturn a law in Scotland which gives victims of an asbestos-related illness the right to claim damages. The Scottish parliament passed the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions)(Scotland) Act in 2009. It allows sufferers of pleural plaques, a benign scarring of the lungs, to make compensation claims. Insurers argued the law was "flawed" but the Court of Session upheld the Scottish Parliament's decision. Some of the biggest names in the insurance industry, such as AXA insurer, opposed the Damages Act, passed at Holyrood in March 2009.

The law had already overturned a landmark House of Lords ruling that people with pleural plaques, a symptomless thickening of lung membranes, cannot claim compensation. Pleural plaques can be caused by past exposure to asbestos but have no ill-effects and are not considered a disease in their own right.

'Justified interference'

Supporters of the law, such as Clydeside Action On Asbestos, argued that the benign scarring on lungs proves past exposure to asbestos and increases the risk of fatal disease. Insurers warned that MSPs ignored medical opinion and had opened the "floodgates" for claims.

Pleural plaques causes a thickening of lung membranes

The insurence industry argued that the law breaks European Convention on Human Rights provisions on property rights and constitutes unreasonable legal interference.

A summary of the court opinion rejected the overall challenge, which was brought forward on two bases.

The Lord President, Lord Eassie and Lord Hardie rejected the first challenge that the legislation was unlawful.

They agreed that insurers' rights are interfered with but that the interference "was justified" overall.

During scrutiny of the legislation, the Scottish government estimated that costs were likely to peak between £7m and £19m in the next decade.

But the insurance industry claimed the costs over the next 20 years would average between £76m and £607m.

Source :   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-13050830