A judge has rejected a move by UK insurance companies to overturn a law passed in Scotland that allows patients diagnosed with pleural plaques to claim compensation.

BBC Scotland reports that leading insurance company AXA General Insurance Ltd and others had sought a judicial review of the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions)(Scotland) Act introduced in 2009. The law gave the right to those suffering from asbestos-related illnesses, such as plural plaques, to claim damages. The condition is benign but causes scarring of the lung tissue and may carry an increased risk of developing the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma..

The law overturned a ruling by the House of Lords that stated, because the condition did not have symptoms and was not classed as a disease, compensation could not be claimed by those affected by it.

AXA and other insurance companies challenged the Scottish Parliament’s new ruling, saying that the act would ‘benefit a small group of claimants, who had suffered no harm’ – as well as imposing a ‘disproportionate and excessive burden on insurers running into hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pounds’.

Following a 22-day hearing at Scotland’s Court of Session, Lord Emslie said that he did not accept that the insurers’ complaints about the law ‘came anywhere near the standard of "irrationality" needed invalidate an Act of the Scottish Parliament’.

Lord Emslie added:

‘There is clearly room for differences of opinion as to whether the Parliament was right to legislate in the way it did – and it remains to be seen whether the 2009 Act will prove to have adverse legal or political consequences in years to come.’

The Association of British Insurers said it would now consider grounds for appeal against the ruling.

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