There
was a catch – and hats off to The Observer for disclosing it last
Sunday. In this piece, Jamie Doward highlighted the fact that the scheme is only
available to future victims of mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by
exposure to asbestos.
To
be fair, the DWP’s original press release, issued on 25 July, made clear that
the scheme would only apply to “newly diagnosed victims”. It stated that the
scheme “will allow around 3,000 mesothelioma victims across the UK who are
unable to claim compensation because they cannot trace a liable employer or
employers’ liability insurer to receive approximately £300m in payments in the
first 10 years”, adding that around “300 mesothelioma sufferers a year
currently lose out on compensation because they are unable to trace a liable
employer or employers’ liability insurer”.
Lord
Freud, the Minister for Welfare, declared: “We have worked tirelessly together
with the insurance industry to agree this package of measures on behalf of
those who face this terrible disease. The new scheme will mean that, for the
first time, sufferers of diffuse mesothelioma, who cannot trace either a liable
employer or employers’ liability insurer, will have access to extra payments.”
That
sounds fine, so far as it goes – but the trouble is that it doesn’t go far
enough. For starters, it seems that there will be a two year delay in the
implementation of the scheme owing to the need for primary legislation.
Mesothelioma is a terribly aggressive cancer, and the life expectancy of anyone
diagnosed with it is nine months to a year. This means that anyone diagnosed
with the disease now is likely to die before the scheme comes into force.
Moreover,
as The Observer reports, there is considerable disquiet at the fact that
the scheme only benefits suffers of mesothelioma. People suffering from
asbestosis, pleural thickening and asbestos-related lung cancer are excluded
from the scheme, but campaigners say these conditions amount to 50% of all
asbestos diseases.
No
wonder Tony Whitston, the chairman of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups
Forum, told The Observer he was “bitterly disappointed at the
exclusion”. He went further, accusing the government of acceding to the wishes
of “rich and powerful insurers”.
I
have previously alluded to the rather too cosy relationship that exists between
the present government and the insurance industry, and have much sympathy with
Mr Whitston. There is something about the wording of the DWP’s press release
that is worrying. Lord Freud comes across as too keen to praise insurers (in
saying how “tirelessly” they have worked with the DWP), and the press release
is also at pains to point out that the scheme is “funded by insurers”. Then
comes a quote by Otto Thoresen, the Association of British Insurers’ Director
General (rather than someone from, for example, the Asbestos Victims Support
Groups Forum). Mr Thoresen has this to say:
“Mesothelioma
is a particularly aggressive cancer and the insurance industry, working with
government, is determined to do all it can to ensure that sufferers get the
support they need as soon as possible. This package of measures will deliver
help to claimants much faster, including to those who would otherwise go un-compensated.”
Regrettably,
though, this conjunction of the government and the insurance industry has not
done all that it can. The scheme only applies to people suffering from
mesothelioma since 25 July this year, will not be wholly effective for two
years, and excludes a vast swathe of asbestos-related conditions. The bottom
line is that many people will continue to go un-compensated, and, as so often
when it comes to this government and the PI sector, so-called ‘reform’ simply
isn’t good enough.
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