CHESTER STREET SCANDAL - ROBBING THE VICTIMS

1.Thousands of asbestos sufferers, many of them dying from their illnesses, could lose out on NINETY-FIVE PERCENT of their compensation after the collapse of Chester Street Insurance Holdings Ltd.

2.The company called in the provisional liquidators Pricewaterhouse Coopers in January of this year. They claim that they cannot meet the rising number of claims from asbestos victims who are suing former employers who were insured by the company.

3.The company sold their main profitable asset Iron Trades Insurance ensuring that they had no profits to pay out successful asbestos claimants.

4.The company was sold for £175 million, which is £50 million less than the market value. The buyers, an Australian company QBE Ltd. held back £27 million of the purchase price.

5.This means that Chester Street received £77 million less than their own valuation of the companyÕs assets. What was the role of the regulatory authority in all of this?

6.Chester Street paid a £440,000 bonus to chief executive Robert Hardy months before it collapsed. His wages went from £70,000 in 1998 to £668,000 the following year. Why?

7.Chester Street is publicly acknowledging £200 million of assets. According to analysis carried out by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) this sum would be enough to pay out up to 2,500 Mesothelioma victims. At this rate a maximum of four years worth of claims will exhaust the reserves.

8.Asbestos sufferers or their bereaved relatives should not have to go through the stress of court action only to be told that the amount of damages they will be paid FIVE PER CENT of their legal entitlement.

9.This is a discredit to the insurance industry, which can be compared with the worst excesses of the Maxwell scandal.

10.It is estimated that 5,000 Scottish shipyard workers will die of asbestos-related illness in the next 10 years because of their previous exposure to asbestos at work. If the Chester Street scandal is allowed to continue unchallenged thousands of asbestos victims will be denied justice.

11.We demand that Government undertake a full public inquiry into the events within this insurance company in the pre-liquidation period.

12.We demand that the whole value of all successful claims be met in full. Justice delayed is justice denied.

CLYDEBANK ASBESTOS GROUP

PROTEST RALLY

Make your way to Clydebank
Chester Street Financial Scandal

We Demand a Full Public Inquiry
Government Intervention Now
100% Compensation For Asbestos Victims
Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied
Examine the Chester Street Insurance Holdings Robbery

Speakers include:

BILL SPEIRS (General Secretary STUC)

MRS JOAN BAIRD (Clydebank Asbestos Group)

JIMMY REID (Former Shop Stewards Convener UCS)

ANDY WHITE (Leader West-Dunbartonshire Council)

DES McNULTY MSP (Clydebank & Milngavie)

LLOYD QUINAN MSP (Scottish National Party)

TOMMY SHERIDAN MSP (Scottish Socialist Party)

FRANK MAGUIRE (Solicitor/Advocate)

TONY WORTHINGTON MP (Clydebank & Milngavie)

 

SATURDAY

31 MARCH 2001

CLYDEBANK TOWN HALL

Assemble 10.30am Queens Square, Clydebank

Short march to venue

All Welcome

Further details Tel: 0141 951 1008