An appeal has been dropped against a landmark judgment requiring a company to contribute to the hospice care costs of a former south-east-London-based worker it exposed to asbestos, family lawyers said.
An insurer’s “last minute” decision not to proceed with the appeal opens the way for hospices across the country to benefit from the ruling.
Thousands of claims could now be brought by cash-needy hospices against companies whose former workers are dying from asbestos-related illnesses.
Most victims are ex-workers at power stations, shipyards and building sites, where asbestos was prevalent as insulation and a fire-retardant.
The test case involved James Willson, who worked at Deptford power station, south-east London, in the 1950s and fell victim to mesothelioma, an asbestos-related disease which may not appear until 50 years after exposure.
Last year a High Court judge decided that Foster Wheeler Ltd, the company which employed Mr Willson, should pay all the costs of his care at St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, which would otherwise have had to be met out of charity donations.
Mr Willson started working at the power station in 1951 and was regularly exposed to asbestos while erecting new boilers. More than 50 years later, in 2012, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He spent 23 days at the hospice before dying there in March 2007, aged 76.
The engineering company’s insurers, Royal & Sun Alliance, started proceedings to appeal against the ruling but the appeal was dropped days before it was due to go ahead, said Irwin Mitchell.
Caroline Pinfold, a solicitor with the firm, said the case “provides a legal basis for hospices to be repaid for the tremendously valuable work they do where their care has been needed as a result of someone else’s wrongdoing”.
The Royal & Sun Alliance confirmed that it is not going to proceed with the appeal.