Date: 18 September 2006

COMPENSATION ACT RECEIVED ROYAL ASSENT 25 JULY 2006 - Part 2

Welcome to our second instalment of news relating to the Compensation Act 2006.  The provisions relating to mesothelioma claims were introduced late in the life of the bill and were the subject of frantic activity in the insurance industry and amongst personal injury practitioners.

Mesothelioma Claims

Section 3 repeals the effect of the recent Barker –v- Corus Plc (2006) decision and reinstates the position as decided by the House of Lords in Fairchild. Thus, even if the Defendant were one of a number of employers or occupiers that negligently exposed the claimant/deceased to asbestos it will be responsible for the whole of the damage not merely a proportion calculated by reference to the respective periods of exposure by such employers/occupiers.

By section 16(3), section 3 is given retrospective effect but section 16(4) provides that it shall have no effect in relation to a claim settled before the 3rd May 2006 (the date of the Barker judgment) or legal proceedings determined before that date.

Section 16(5) provides that if such a case was settled between 3rd May 2006 and 25th July 2006 (the date the Act was passed), a party to the settlement may apply to a relevant Court to have the settlement varied. A relevant Court is one that would have had jurisdiction to determine the claim by way of legal proceedings.

Section 16(6) makes a similar provision for any legal proceedings determined between the two dates. 

Unlike the rest of the Act which applies to England and Wales only, section 3 together with the relevant provisions of section 16 i.e. 16(3) – 16(6) apply also to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Don’t forget to log in next week to hear about claims management services.

Derek Adamson