Mesothelioma study proposed
EMB, the world’s largest firm of non-life actuaries, is looking for companies to participate in a study to determine likely future claims levels for Mesothelioma.Claims for the asbestos-related disease are expected to peak in the first half of the next decade and could cost UK companies several billion pounds. Although historically a large proportion of these losses have been recoverable from insurers this could be much lower in future. Mesothelioma can take 35-40 years to develop and, in that time, a number of prominent Employers’ Liability insurers have gone into liquidation. Some impending court decisions may further reduce the scope for insurance recoveries. According to EMB, data from their own clients suggest that loss patterns vary significantly from what one might expect using the epidemiological model developed by the Health and Safety Executive.They wish, however, to widen their database before reaching any firm conclusion. EMB director Steve Mathews presented the proposal to a recent meeting of AIRMIC’s Liability Group.“This is going to be a big burden for many large companies,” he said, “and it is clearly important for them to be able to quantify accurately likely future liabilities.” Companies wishing to join the study must have electronic employee records and mesothelioma claim records, recording such fields as:
- Unique identifier – e.g. name, NI number etc;
- Date of birth;
- Disease;
- Date of notification of disease;
- Status of claim (open, closed, settled except for costs etc);
- Date of start and date of termination of employment.
- Site / location of work
