WHITE-collar workers including teachers and Government staff are among those who will make up the next wave of compensation bids after a landmark ruling on legal action for patients with pleural plaques, it has been claimed.
The law firm driving a campaign for compensation for victims of pleural plaques and their relatives said that, while the bulk of cases had been related to industry, there was a separate tranche of claims of which many people had been unaware.
The news comes after the UK Supreme Court threw out a legal bid by major insurance firms to strike down a Holyrood law giving Scots with lungs scarred by asbestos the right to sue.
That decision means at least 1350 actions for damages will now go ahead, and thousands more claims are expected from workers from industries such as shipbuilding.
Patrick McGuire, of Thompsons solicitors which is handling nine out of 10 of the Scottish compensation claims cases, said Government professionals in Scotland, including teachers, doctors, white-collar workers and their families were also moving forward with cases related to pleural plaques.
Thomsons has a small number of such cases on its books at present, but more claims are expected in the coming months and years as awareness is raised after the court ruling.
Mr McGuire said: “We don’t know exactly what kind of health timebomb we are sitting on but it could indeed be huge.”
John Stephenson, Scottish campaigns co-ordinator for the public-sector union Unison, said: “People we have represented to date have been in industry, but there are a lot of old buildings where we didn’t know about it.
“It is very difficult to assess, but the issue for us is if people’s health has been affected by where they work then they are entitled to a level of compensation.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Most asbestos-related claims will relate to employment in heavy industry dating back several decades.
“We are aware asbestos was used elsewhere and, if not dealt with appropriately, could lead to exposure and therefore asbestos-related illnesses in certain circumstances. However, we would expect such claims to be relatively rare by comparison.”
The Scottish Parliament’s own experts calculated in 2009 that outstanding claims could be worth up to £22 million. Figures from Westminster suggested UK-wide potential cost of £8.6 billion.
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