Asbestos victims may get more legal rights
Reforms to Scotland's compensation system are on the table, writes Laura Blane
When someone develops an asbestos-related disease, the consequences can be devastating.
A diagnosis may arrive decades after exposure, bringing anxiety, financial pressure and, in the most serious cases, terminal illness. For those affected and their families, compensation is about more than money. It can provide security, accountability and recognition of the harm caused by negligent asbestos exposure.
The Scottish Law Commission's Report on Damages for Personal Injury, published in December 2024, represents an important opportunity to strengthen the rights of asbestos victims. Accompanied by a draft Damages (Scotland) Bill, it recommends reforms to modernise Scotland's compensation system, including important changes affecting asbestos-related disease.
Scotland has long recognised that asbestos exposure can cause conditions including pleural plaques, pleural thickening, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer and mesothelioma. However, the current law can create difficulties for people diagnosed with an asymptomatic condition such as pleural plaques years before developing a more serious illness.
Pleural plaques are areas of scarring on the lining of the lungs indicating previous asbestos exposure. They do not normally cause symptoms and are often discovered unexpectedly during investigations for unrelated conditions. Many people are reassured that the condition itself is benign and may have little reason to consider legal action at that stage.
The difficulty lies in Scotland's limitation rules. The three-year period for raising a personal injury action will often begin when an individual becomes aware of an asbestos-related condition. If no claim is raised within that period, significant legal obstacles can arise later. This can create an obvious injustice where someone diagnosed with symptom-free pleural plaques subsequently develops mesothelioma or another serious asbestos disease years later.
The Scottish Law Commission has recognised this problem and recommended changes to ensure an early diagnosis of an asymptomatic asbestos condition does not unfairly prevent a later claim for a more serious illness. In practical terms, the proposals would provide a fresh opportunity to pursue compensation when a symptomatic and potentially life-threatening disease develops.
For asbestos victims, that change could be significant. It would remove a technical barrier that can prevent legitimate claims from proceeding. Individuals would no longer face the same risk of losing access to justice simply because they did not pursue litigation after being diagnosed with a condition that caused no symptoms or meaningful impact on daily life.
The reforms would also offer greater protection for families. Mesothelioma and other serious asbestos diseases can place enormous emotional and financial pressure on loved ones. The proposed changes would help ensure relatives are not deprived of compensation because of a diagnosis received years earlier, when there were no significant symptoms and no reason to anticipate what would follow.
More broadly, the recommendations recognise the realities of asbestos disease. The effects of exposure often emerge decades after the original wrongdoing, and the law should provide a fair route to compensation when serious illness arises.
Behind every asbestos case is a person whose life has been changed by exposure that should never have occurred. The Scottish Law Commission's proposals offer the prospect of a fairer and more compassionate system, placing justice ahead of technicalities and helping victims and their families retain meaningful access to compensation when they need it most. The question now is whether the Seventh Session of the Scottish Parliament will take the next step and turn those recommendations into law.
Laura Blane is a Partner at Thompsons Solicitors Scotland