Plaques stick to balance sheets - papers 16 February

The Timessays the bill could be up to £1bn for companies such as Norwich Union and Zurich, which had argued the test cases were about a medical condition – pleural plaques – which is not known to be a health threat. The insurers are deciding whether to go to the Court of Appeal, after Justice Holland said they would have to keep paying out to the workers, albeit at a lower rate, the paper adds. Some 100,000 Britons are estimated to be affected by pleural plaques – calcified lung spots – but the decision to award continued payouts from insurers was based on the argument the condition c...