A NETHER Langwith woman is at the centre of a fresh court battle which threatens thousands of compensation claims made by people who lost their loved ones through asbestos exposure.
Ruth Durham is among a number of families who have taken their case to the London Court of Appeal in a bid to get insurance companies to pay out compensation.
Her 73-year-old father Leslie Edwin Screach, died from mesothelioma — which is caused by
asbestos exposure –– in 2003.
Mr Screach was exposed to asbestos fibres when he worked as a painting and decorating contractor for G&C Whittle Ltd in Chiswick, Middlesex, from 1963 to 1968. Following his death, Mrs Durham's £105,000 insurance claim sparked off a huge legal battle –– with insurers arguing they should not be held liable for asbestos exposure which happened so long ago.
She appeared to have made a breakthrough in her campaign last year when a High Court judge ruled that liability to pay compensation to sufferers arises at the time of exposure to asbestos and not, as insurers claimed, at the point when the tumour develops.
But the decision was appealed against by the insurers, which has now led to the fresh court hearing brought by the families before the nation's top judges. The hearing is expected to last three weeks.
