01/12/2009 - 'Employers liability bureau' plans
Under new government plans, people who suffer industrial accidents or illnesses will have access to a 'fund of last resort'.
Work and Pensions Minister Lord McKenzie of Luton deemed the current situation "unsatisfactory" claiming many workers were unable to access the compensation they deserved - especially if a long time had elapsed before a disease developed.
The possibility of an 'employers' liability insurance bureau' could be looked at "in a matter of weeks rather than months," he said.
Labour's Baroness Turner of Camden told him at question time: "Especially as far as long-latency diseases are concerned it can be impossible to trace the insurer because records have been lost or destroyed and that means that people cannot claim compensation which they need and deserve and this may affect many many vulnerable people."
She asked if would be possible to establish a 'fund of last resort' that enabled people "to claim compensation for quite serious injuries which they sustained at work".
Lord McKenzie replied: "We fully accept that the current arrangements for tracing employers' liability insurance policies are not satisfactory and that too many individuals are not able to access the compensation they deserve particularly in relation to long-latency diseases such as mesothelioma.
"We are looking keenly at establishing an employers' liability insurance bureau exactly as Lady Turner suggested, a fund of last resort."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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