Co-op fights ABI on asbestos

The Co-operative Insurance is calling on the insurance industry to support government plans to help people affected by asbestos related illnesses to get compensation from individual insurers or an industry scheme.

It puts The Co-op on a collision course with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which has opposed pooled compensation for untraceable policies.

David Neave, who heads up General Insurance at The Co-op, said: "Sadly, thousands of people have been unwittingly exposed to asbestos over the years and are only now starting to develop symptoms of diseases.

“Whilst a diagnosis is hard enough for the victim, to find that they cannot claim for compensation as their past employer has now ceased trading and, the insurance provider cannot be traced can make an already difficult situation much worse.

Fair and ethical

"The Co-operative Insurance believes that a solution needs to be developed by the whole insurance industry which will allow victims of asbestos related disease, and their families, to access a tracing service which identifies historic companies and their insurers from whom a claim can be made.

"However, contrary to the ABI's views on the funding of the compensation, if a company's insurer proves impossible to trace, we believe that it is only fair and ethical for insurers to fund a pool enabling these victims to make a claim.

"These people have worked for their employers in good faith and on a balance of probability we believe that the majority of ceased businesses probably did have adequate insurance and therefore it is only fair and equitable that these claims should be honoured.

"The Co-operative Insurance is committed to treating its customers fairly and we feel that for the industry to turn their backs on victims of often terminal illnesses, which have been caused by their working environment, is morally wrong and unjustifiable."