Settlement in Yorkshire Asbestos test case

Published on Thu 25 Jan 2007

A legal case that had threatened to cost insurers millions has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

The compensation case was brought against Holland Hannan & Cubitt and two insurance companies, Zurich and Excess, by law firm Corries on behalf of Mrs Silvia Gilligan. Mrs Gilligan?s husband Fred died in 2002 from an asbestos related illness.

The case was prompted by a dispute over the wording of the insurance policies provided by the two firms. They claimed that they were not liable for Fred Gilligan?s death, but refused to disclose their policies to back this up. Corries took the case to court, to force the insurance firms to reveal the exact wording of their policies.

At the heart of the case is the question of when a victim contracts an asbestos related illness ? immediately upon exposure to asbestos, or once the symptoms began to appear. In most instances, the symptoms of asbestos poisoning are only apparent many years after the lethal exposure has occurred. During this time the victim may have changed companies or, as in this case, the company he worked for may have changed their insurers.

Dominic Collingwood, of Corries' asbestos legal team said: