The use of asbestos was banned for more than thirty years ago, but the insurance industry is currently facing a time bomb claims from people who directly or indirectly exposed to the deadly substance.
Asbestos was once hailed as a miracle product, but its use is required by a terrible price for those exposed to it. Diseases caused by mouth into the lungs, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, can take more than forty years to become apparent and the real cost of drug use in damage claims is only beginning to happen.
Asbestos has been used by man since ancient Greece for its fire retardant properties, but even then it was recorded that the slaves face with him dying from a terrible disease of the lungs and shortness of breath.
In the twentieth century, asbestos was used in all types of construction and manufacturing processes. In every public building you will find the pipes and boilers covered material. Shipbuilders and shipyards were particularly prevalent in its use, and it was not uncommon to see a regular old "laggards" and pipe workers coughing with so-called "Dockers oyster. Offices are also exposed to asbestos, using the walls and ceilings. The house was used in a variety of ways, ranging from the ironing board vehicle brake pads and shed roof covering.
Certainly the most lethal variety of asbestos "blue asbestos," of which one strand in the lungs can cause fatal disease years later.
The first asbestos-related industrial injury claims appeared in the 1960's and have risen sharply since then. Using the material in the UK was stopped H & SE (Health and Safety) in 1970, but it was only finally banned in 1980. During this time, many asbestos removal firms have mainly for removing substances from public buildings such as hospitals and schools. By 2003, it is assumed that the number of direct claims for asbestosis were paying more than 1.3 billion pounds in the UK.
There are four recognized types of asbestosis-related diseases from wild mesothelioma lung cancer, which usually kills within a year, until the so-called "pleural plaques", to which the legislation in the UK currently do not allow the claims, although this is important and can change provoke a billion pounds worth of claims.
Pleural plaques of scar tissue in the lungs caused by asbestos exposure.
Although not directly covered for claims, as the causes and results can not be proved, UK Insurance companies used to pay small amounts to offset concerns about the possibility of plaque turns into something more serious, such as mesothelioma. In 2007, the House of Lords decided that these conditions are not entitled to compensation, although it is being challenged by the Scottish courts and others, and is expected to be canceled.
United States about twenty years ahead of the UK asbestos-related claims by more than three quarters of a million claims paid since 1980. The vast majority of these claims for pleural plaques and the cost is still estimated at about $ 120 billion, which was paid from the U.S. and foreign insurers.
In the UK it is not so easy to bring a claim for asbestosis, as in America, where collective lawsuits against manufacturers of asbestos can sue many companies that each pay a small amount of damage. In the UK, even more people are expected to die of exposure, causation and proximate cause must be proved before any legal action could be taken.
The alarming thing for the insurance company's claims department is that the range and distribution of claims for asbestosis has changed dramatically in recent years, as the true cost exposed. In the past, most complaints were from the laggards and those who are directly involved in the use of asbestos, mainly in the industrial areas of the country.
Claim now from all over the UK, for example, carpenters, plumbers, teachers and families of those who worked with asbestos, for example, the wife of washing clothes and children who greeted their fathers after work.
According to executive health and safety, the authority responsible for safety in the UK is still more than half a million tonnes of deadly blue and brown asbestos, and nearly 3 million tonnes of white asbestos in buildings across the UK. Every year more than 2500 people die from mesothelioma.
Although the requirements for mesothelioma is expected to peak by 2012, as those who are directly exposed to it will all be dead, a time bomb for all asbestos claims are projected to continue until 2040. By this time, more than 200,000 claims have been made, which will cost the UK insurance industry in the region of 10 billion pounds, insurers have to defer to the claims reserves.
If you are suffering from asbestos-related diseases visit Lawyers Simpsons are the UK's leading lawyers for occupational disease compensation, and experts in the maximum damage for all work injury claims and work accident.