MANY sufferers of asbestos related disease face a longer wait for justice after appeal court judges referred their claims to the Supreme Court – the country’s highest court.

The three judges could not agree on a previous High Court ruling that insurers were liable for damages where workers were exposed to asbestos.

Insurance firms had appealed the 2008 verdict, which stated employers’ insurers at the time of exposure were liable to pay out on claims for the fatal disease mesothelioma, which is caused by breathing in asbestos fibres.

They had argued any liability should be from the onset of symptoms, while lawyers for victims and their families said it should be from the time of exposure.

Now the Supreme Court will decide, although a final ruling could be many months – or even years – away.

Last night, Bob Stephenson, secretary of the North- East Asbestos Support and Awareness Group, said: “This is a great disappointment and an insult to people suffering from asbestos-related diseases.

“People have been exposed to asbestos because of their work and the insurance companies are trying to get out of paying the compensation due.

“If the Supreme Court backs up the Court of Appeal, people may not get any justice at all.”

Yesterday, judges said that in some of the 6,000 cases which form the claim compensation should be awarded.

But in other cases, they agreed with insurers and said responsibility lay with insurers at the onset of symptoms of the cancer, which in some cases can take 50 to 60 years to develop.

There were more than 2,000 deaths in the North-East from mesothelioma between 1980 and 2005.

The region has a proportionally higher rate of asbestos- related deaths than many other areas in the country because of its heavy industry background – the material was commonly used in the likes of ship building and the chemical industry.

Lawyers said the judgement meant more uncertainty for victims and would increase the burden on the tax payer since mesothelioma victims exposed at work who cannot bring a claim are entitled to a one-off payment from the Government.

General secretary of construction union Ucatt, Alan Ritchie, said: “Hundreds of people are having their cases delayed because of this decision.

“Sadly, many of them will die before the trigger case can be resolved and compensation restored.’’