A group of insurance companies want to change the way compensation is paid to people who develop mesothelioma as a result of exposure to the deadly dust in the workplace.
If the bid succeeds, there are fears it could open the door to other insurance firms to avoid paying money to thousands of asbestos victims, many of whom contracted the disease while working in Tyneside shipyards.
Anne Craig, of St Joseph's Court, Hebburn, whose super-fit husband, David, died many years after being exposed to asbestos, has slammed the bid.
The project manager for the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund said: "It's appalling to think that some insurance companies are trying to avoid their responsibilities in this way and rob mesothelioma victims of their rightful compensation.
"These companies are basically trying every way they can to avoid paying compensation to victims.
"This is something our group is going to fight all the way."
The insurance industry is arguing that the employers' liability insurance cover, which is used by companies to insure against liability for workers becoming ill or injured while working, is 'triggered' by the development of mesothelioma, rather than by the date they were exposed to asbestos.
Deadly
Often the time-lapse between exposure to the deadly dust and the development of the disease can be more than 30 years.
Now mesothelioma victims' claims are being denied by a number of employers' liability insurers who have gone into liquidation.
Ian McFall, head of national asbestos litigation at Newcastle-based Thompsons Solicitors, said: "This is a very serious threat to mesothelioma victims who are trying to claim compensation.
"If the insurers are successful in their argument, many victims will find there is very often no other insurer to turn to because by the time their disease occurs, which is sometimes 30 years or more after they were exposed to asbestos, the employer has ceased trading and no insurance exists.
"The insurers must know this argument will frustrate and delay the process of obtaining compensation for terminally-ill claimants and will introduce uncertainty about how historical policies of employment liability insurance should work in practice in these cases.
"We will continue to fight to ensure asbestos victims maintain their right to claim full compensation.
"It must be right that they are compensated for the injuries they have suffered merely through carrying out a hard day's work."
The insurance companies who are raising the 'trigger' issue and refusing to pay mesothelioma claims are the Independent Insurance Company Ltd, the Builders Accident Insurance Ltd, and the Excess Insurance Company Ltd.

TERRY KELLY
terry.kelly@northeast-press.co.uk