The ABI has called for urgent reform to the system of industrial
deafness claims. The number of claims has increased from 1,000 in
March 2012 to 3,500 in March 2014 with claims taking on average 17
months to settle, leading to significantly spiralling costs for
insurers.
As deafness claims commonly involve multiple Defendants they are
not suitable for use in the present MoJ Portal system and
accordingly do not attract fixed fees.
The ABI has suggested an extension of the current portal or the
creation of a bespoke deafness portal is required in order to
reduce costs and settlement times.
The ABI's plea follows the Court of Appeals rejection of a
claim from a former railway worker who claimed hearing loss as a
result of working at an engineering works between 1953 and
1988.
