Post-fatality mesothelioma claims in Scotland - the UK Supreme Court answer a long-running question

On 10 December 2025, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) handed down judgment in answer to a long-running question in post-fatality mesothelioma claims by qualifying relatives under the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011.

The question arose from the specific Scottish statutory wording of the “mesothelioma exception” to the general rule against post-fatality claims if, when living, the deceased had discharged their own claims.

The context in this case, Crozier or Veale & others v Scottish Power UK plc, was the discharge, when living, by the subsequent deceased of a pleural plaques claim on a full and final basis at a time when they were not, or at least not knowingly, suffering from mesothelioma.

The specific question for UKSC, put broadly, was - do qualifying relatives benefit from the “mesothelioma exception” in that scenario? The answer from UKSC is yes - they do. This means that the relatives’ claims for Scottish “loss of society” damages may continue.  

A key point, in UKSC’s analysis, is that the sum received by the subsequent deceased when living, in return for the discharge, included a sum for the risk of mesothelioma. This was sufficient to bring the discharge into the “mesothelioma exception”.

It remains the case that the pre-legislative documentation in respect of the “mesothelioma exception” focused on mesothelioma sufferers, not those at risk of it and the legislation could have been clearer in making the extended meaning explicit. UKSC have now removed such doubt as there may have been that the exception has the wider meaning not the narrower one. 

A link to the UKSC judgment is here.