Ian McCartney MP

Ian McCartney MP has stepped up the campaign to help victims of asbestos related diseases and their families by calling for the creation of an Employers Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB).

In a letter to the Prime Minister the Makerfield MP sets out the ‘overwhelming’ case for the establishment of an ELIB as the best way forward to create a last resort when victims are unable to trace an employers’ liability insurance.

If a person is suffering from a disease that has been caused by asbestos they can normally take legal action.  Claims will usually be made against the former employers who exposed them to the asbestos.  Compensation will be paid by the employer’s liability insurance.  If the former employer is no longer in business, a claim may still be possible and it would involve tracing the employer’s former insurers. 

However, in his letter to the PM, Ian points out the atrocious record of the tracing scheme obtained from the latest Code of Practice review of tracing employer liability insurance which found that two thirds of all tracing enquiries were for injuries after 1979, and yet only 39% of these were successful.

Ian McCartney concludes that even the most effective schemes will never be able to recover countless policies that have been destroyed or irretrievably lost leading to hundreds of asbestos victims each year not getting compensation because they cannot trace the insurers of employers who have ceased trading.

Ian McCartney MP said, “I am personally now convinced that the there is an overwhelming case for establishing an Employers Liability Insurance Bureau, to help the victims of asbestos related diseases and their families."

“An insurance fund that has already been successful is the Motor Insurance Bureau. This fund protects road traffic victims who have been injured by those who break the law and fail to take out insurance, by ensuring that there is a last resort. I think that workers who have been injured should have comparable protection, and this would be assured through the creation of an ELIB.”