A decision of the High Court has brought relief to sufferers from mesothelioma and their families who had seen their expected compensation claims put on hold as the result of an earlier decision.

The earlier decision was in the Court of Appeal which ruled in a different context that liability for injury was triggered when a disease was diagnosed, not at the point of contact with the thing causing the disease. Insurers representing companies facing mesothelioma claims used this argument to avoid making payment to sufferers from the disease, which can take up to 40 years to manifest itself. They argued that since the symptoms appeared long after the insurance policies in force at the time the exposure to asbestos occurred (the cause of mesothelioma), they were not bound to pay compensation.

However, Mr Justice Burton concluded that it could not be considered that the date an injury takes place had to be as late as that on which symptoms appear.

The practical effect of the ruling means that employees who suffer from mesothelioma can claim against the historic insurers of their employers and will not have to show the precise time at which the exposure to asbestos causing the disease occurs.