Case Preview: Employers’ Liability Insurance “Trigger Litigation”
14 Wednesday Dec 2011
Adam Baker, Olswang LLP Case Previews
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The Supreme Court is currently hearing nine appeals arising out of six test cases collectively known as the “Trigger Litigation”. The ‘trigger’ in dispute is insurers’ liability under various Employers’ Liability (“EL”) policies where an employee has contracted mesothelioma many years after their initial exposure to asbestos.
The issue in all the actions is whether the insurers liable for the employees’ claims are those that insured employers at the time the employee inhaled the asbestos fibres, or those, if any, that currently insure the employer when the exposure manifests itself in cancer. Following the decision of the Court of Appeal in Bolton MBC v Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd [2006] EWA Civ 50 regarding a Public Liability (“PL”) policy, some insurers have ceased to pay claims on an “exposure” basis. Employees whose claims would have been met under policies at the time they were exposed to asbestos may find they cannot claim when a tumour appears either because there is no insurer currently in place, the employer having gone out of business, or because the employer’s current EL policy does not cover the claim following Bolton.
The decision in Bolton
Bolton concerned a claim under a PL policy for mesothelioma. The policy covered liability for injury or illness “when such injury, illness . . . occurs during the currency of the policy“. The Court of Appeal found that the injury did not occur at the time of exposure, but much later when the mesothelioma appeared.
Traditionally, EL insurers would accept claims for mesothelioma on the basis that exposure was the trigger. However, following the decision in Bolton, many insurers began to reject such claims. It was out of this shift in policy that the “Trigger Litigation” arose.
Durham v BAI (Run Off) – Facts
The first lead case concerned Mr Screach, who was employed by G & C Whittle Ltd between 1963 and 1968, during which time he was exposed to asbestos. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in April 2003 and died that November. The defendant, BAI, provided Whittle with EL insurance throughout the period of Mr. Screach’s exposure.
The wording of the EL policy at the time provided that:
“. . . the Company will . . . indemnify the Insured against all sums of money which the Insured may become liable to pay to any Employee engaged in the direct service of the Insured or any dependant of such Employee in respect of any claim for injury sustained or disease contracted by such Employee between the [first day and last day of the period of insurance] both inclusive . . .”
Whittle has since been wound up and so there was no EL policy in place at the point Mr Screach was diagnosed with the disease. Instead he claimed under the BAI policy. BAI (now in a scheme of arrangement), rejected Mr Screach’s claim in 2006 following the Bolton decision. The claimant is Mr Screach’s daughter.
High Court Decision
In his judgment of 21 November 2008 ([2008] EWHC 2692 (QB)), Burton J found for the claimant. The medical evidence pointed to the fact that there was no disease or injury at the point of or in the period directly following the claimant’s exposure to asbestos; the disease and injury followed many years later. The EL policy covered the employer in respect of injury resulting from exposure during the policy to a victim while he was an employee. If the policy was triggered when the cancer developed, then Mr Screach would not be covered because he had ceased to be an employee. However, if the policy was triggered at the date of exposure, then Mr. Screach’s injuries would clearly be covered by it.
Turning to the construction of the EL policies, it was held that the words “sustained” and “contracted” were, in their context, synonymous with “caused”, Bolton being distinguished. It followed from such an interpretation that Mr. Screach’s injuries fell within the wording of the EL policy.
Court of Appeal
The appellant insurers argued that Burton J erred in his construction of the EL policies, and that in fact a reading of “sustained” or “contracted” as synonymous with “caused” did not necessarily alter the policies’ meanings. An extract from the EL policy of the third lead case was given as an example [206]:
“If at any time during the said period, any employee . . . shall sustain any personal injury”
This extract would be read, according to Burton J’s construction, as:
“If at any time during the said period, any employee . . . shall be caused any personal injury”
It was argued that such a construction would still leave the injury having to be caused during the policy period, rather than the cause of the injury having to occur in that period. The claimants argued that Burton J’s construction was correct and that, notwithstanding any primary reading of the language, the EL policies must be read in the context of the commercial understanding and public policy to which they were designed to give effect. It should be noted that the EL policies are compulsory and intended to provide security for employees who suffer injuries for which their employer is liable.
The High Court decision was overturned by a 2:1 majority on 8 October 2010, with Rix LJ giving the leading judgment in the Court of Appeal decision. Those hoping for clarification in the Court of Appeal’s judgment were to be disappointed – the judgment, running to over 160 pages, contains several different approaches.
However, a few key principles of construction arose – it was held that an injury was “sustained” when it occurred, and therefore EL policies containing that drafting could be read in the same way as the PL policy in Bolton, the injury not occurring until the onset of mesothelioma. In contrast, where an EL policy referred to an injury or disease being “contracted”, this was held to be synonymous with the word “caused” and therefore the insurer at the point of exposure would be liable for any claim.
Comment
Given the continuing uncertainty in the law following the Court of Appeal’s ruling, the appeal to the Supreme Court comes as no surprise. The decision will clearly have significant public policy ramifications (the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is an interested party), and given the large number of claims contingent on the outcome the appeal has been expedited.
The case will determine whether some insurers will have to return to the pre-Bolton approach of meeting claims on an exposure basis, clearly a significant liability compared to the Bolton position, or whether the Bolton “injury” approach will prevail, an outcome that could leave many victims of mesothelioma without compensation or a remedy.
The appeals are:
BAI (Run Off) Ltd (In Scheme of Arrangement) v Thomas Bates and Son Ltd
BAI (Run Off) Ltd (In Scheme of Arrangement) v Durham
Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd v Zurich Insurance Company
Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd v Zurich Insurance Company & Adur District Council & Ors
Independent Insurance Company Ltd v Fleming & Anor
Municipal Mutual Insurance Company v Zurich Insurance Company & Ors
Excess Insurance Company Ltd v Edwards
Excess Insurance Company Ltd v Amec plc
7 comments
T Hood said:
14/12/2011 at 18:50
The working man has no power so as usual he will be ripped of by the establishment.
Nothing changes when a little bit of money is in danger of leaving the wealthy to ensure justice.
Might be a different story if the Judges had ever sampled just one hard days work in muck and dust, unlike thousands of us who spend their lives doing just that just to pay the bills and then end up with a horrible death!
Simon L said:
30/12/2011 at 16:11
A baffling display of ignorance here. Judges don’t make up the law to suit T. Hood; they interpret the law. In the present case, they had to consider the nature of asbestos related disease, and the wording of the contrcts of insurance, to establish whether the insurers were “on risk” for the Claimants’ diseases.
And don’t give me that Working Class Hero crap about judges not working hard; they work as hard as greengrocers and gynaecologists and dustmen – it’s just that they work with their brains. An activity which some think is praiseworthy.
T Hood said:
05/01/2012 at 22:28
Simon L, Sorry to hear you are baffled. You have commented on statements that don’t exist in my post. I did not say that judges make laws to suit me or anyone else. They do indeed interpret laws made by parliament where there is ambiguity.
I did not say judges don’t work hard. I said they have never done a hard days work in an industry that involves them working in muck and dust for a fraction of their salaries as a judge then rewards them with an horrific death namely, Mesothelioma. By the way Simon these post do relate to the “trigger case” which is all about people who have worked in asbestos “muck and dust” and contracted Mesothelioma.
The point is that the judge’s interpretation on points of law is exactly that, their own individual interpretation right or wrong. They do not have fixed guidelines that they must follow or there would be no ambiguity and no need for clarification. Their interpretation, view point must inevitably be coloured by their life experience and environment and that is generally of, money, privilege, commerce, and working with academics and the so called “professional classes,” far removed from the experiences and environment of a “working class hero” asbestos pipe lagger in a ship yard. I believe that in this particular case if their decision is evenly balanced then history and human nature dictates that their judgement is more likely to swing in the favour of professionals like themselves, and on this occasion, that means the insurance companies.
I’m sure you aware that the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly found that the House of Lords ruling, removing the compensation for asbestos related pleural plaques was in their view totally wrong. These judge’s “praiseworthy brains” don’t always get it right!
For the sake of the sufferers of this terrible disease and the injustice of not being able to claim compensation I hope my lack of faith and cynicism in a sensible and just decision by the judges is proved unfounded and your comments are entirely vindicated.
Anthony Fairclough said:
09/01/2012 at 11:00
There’s an interesting insight into the judiciary, judicial stereotypes (many outlined above) and how true they are, in a new book called Sitting in Judgment: The Working Lives of Judges.
tony possingham said:
19/12/2011 at 07:30
I am a barrister engaged in asbestos litigation in South Australia. The High Court has handed down a recent decision as to causation: Amaca v Booth. I wondered how the Appeal in the Trigger litigation is going.
Thanks, Tony.
Angela Waters said:
02/01/2012 at 23:26
My husband died in October 2011 from Mesothelioma. I am waiting the outcome of my claim. Had my husband never worked in the 1960s with asbestos he would still be with me today – how can anyone ever say I am not entitled to be compensated for this loss. The company who my husband worked for in the 1960s is responsible for his death NOT some magician picking a timescale out of the air which would thus result in no compensation to me for the loss of my lovely husband.
T Hood said:
06/01/2012 at 00:31
First of all my deepest sympathies to you and your family.
I myself have recently been diagnosed with pleural plaques and am unfortunately only to aware of the possibility of developing Mesothelioma. Sadly a work colleague and close friend of mine has recently suffered an agonising death through Mesothelioma so I have a very personal interest in this case at the Supreme Court.
I am bewildered as to why there is any argument put forward that the people responsible for putting asbestos in to your lungs and their insurers at that time are not liable. A farmer sowing a seed is responsible for the growth of that plant even if it takes years for that seed to germinate. The plant would not be there if it wasn’t for the farmer sowing the seed and neither would the Mesothelioma without the asbestos seed. Play with words as much as you like insurance companies but the upshot is you are happy to take the premiums but very reluctant to pay out.
When I listen to these so called learned academics debating this issue it seems to me that the more educated they are the less common sense they seem to have. It seems sometimes they are just showing off their debating skills and demonstrating how clever they are at manipulating the meaning of words, instead of trying to determine a true and just resolution and forgetting the significance of the this case for thousands of victims and future victims of these horrific asbestos related diseases. I do hope the judges deliberating on this case do not fall into that category.