Construction union UCATT have welcomed the Supreme Courts ruling that has preserved the right of mesothelioma victims to claim compensation.

The case involved the families of Dianne Willmore and Enid Costello, both women died of mesothelioma after being exposed to relatively low levels of asbestos.

The insurers who took the case attempted to argue that the Courts should make a decision over the legal threshold of asbestos exposure before compensation was payable.


However, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling in the 2002 Fairchild case, which was taken by UCATT, that compensation should be paid if the "material contribution test" was passed.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "This judgement should be welcomed. The Courts have upheld the right of asbestos victims to claim compensation. Sadly, this is just the latest in a long line of attempts by the insurance industry to deny compensation to people dying an agonising death."

(CD/KMcA)