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Calls for new last resort asbestos fund after victory.


Byline: BEN SCHOFIELD

A CITY lawyer is ramping up calls for an asbestos "fund of last resort" after winning a payout for a client who was initially told he would get nothing.

Lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell.  sufferer Ronnie Cadwallader, 76, went to John Pickering John Pickering (22 September, 1737 – 11 April, 1805) served as Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature and as Judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.  and Partners after being told he could not trace his defunct employers' insurers.

But a second trawl trawl - To sift through large volumes of data (e.g. Usenet postings, FTP archives, or the Jargon File) looking for something of interest.  of firms by the Association of British Insurers (ABI Abi (ā`bī) [short for Abijah], in the Bible, King Hezekiah's mother.


(Application Binary Interface) A specification for a specific hardware platform combined with the operating system.
) under its voluntary tracing code mysteriously pulled out a hit.

John Pickering partner Kevin Johnson says the experience highlights the flaws in the system.

After winning his case, Halewood grandfather Mr Cadwallader told LDP LDP - Linux Documentation Project  Legal: "My case proves that the insurance scheme for trying to trace policies just doesn't work, it is totally hit and miss."

He worked as a metal worker striping Interleaving or multiplexing data to increase speed. See disk striping.

striping - data striping
 asbestos off pipes, turbines and boilers for Carolina Engineering.

His initial solicitors made an application to the ABI in January 2008, three months after Mr Cadwallader was diagnosed with mesothelioma Mesothelioma Definition

Mesothelioma is an uncommon disease that causes malignant cancer cells to form within the lining of the chest, abdomen, or around the heart. Its primary cause is believed to be exposure to asbestos.
. But the search came back negative.

He then approached John Pickering who applied again in June this year. Their application confirmed Zurich is on risk for two periods of employment in the 1950s.

Court proceedings were started under the fast track system and a hearing was scheduled for today. But both sides have agreed to settle for damages of pounds 140,000.

On the outcome, Mr Johnson said: "If we had accepted the original ABI advice at face value then the claim would have failed and no damages would have been recovered.

"It is not clear what changed in the period between the first ABI search and our enquiry in June to lead to such a different result.

"Employer liability (EL) insurance has been compulsory by law since 1972, and many employers had EL cover in place prior to this date.

"But there is no system for recording historical EL insurance policies, which means if employers are defunct, asbestos sufferers may face massive difficulties in tracing an insurer to meet their claim."

But ABI spokesman Malcolm Tarling dismissed the calls for a separate fund. He said such a move would penalise Verb 1. penalise - impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on; "The students were penalized for showing up late for class"; "we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again"
penalize, punish
 law-abiding insurers for the errors of a minority.

He added: "We think you're going to be penalising those employers and their insurers who are complying with the law.

"We accept that the tracing is not perfect and are trying to make it better."
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Publication:Daily Post (Liverpool, England)
Date:Nov 10, 2009
Words:395
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