NSW insurance coverage supplier icare apologises to asbestos victims for delay in compensation funds

Every day counts for Bill Lawler.

The 80-year-old former security officer was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year – terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.

He likely came into contact with the deadly mineral nearly three decades ago while working as a security officer at the Wawongong Tallawarra Power Plant.

Mr Lawler said that when the power plant shut down, asbestos was dumped in an open pit and that “it just fell from the pipes”.

He has been waiting for his claim for damages from the state insurance company icare to continue.

However, he has been told that he will have to wait almost another month before icare providers agree to participate in the mediation, although his case will have to be negotiated in January.

He first filed his lawsuit in September.

“The whole case is ready for arbitration,” Lawler said.

“A lot of people don’t have that extra time and I want to know from the insurer why it is necessary to make these people suffer.

“You will find that many people only have six to nine months after diagnosis.”

Bill Lawler and his wife Soring await his mediation claim. (ABC News: Nicole Hegarty)

Icare has apologized for delays in processing employee compensation claims and accused its service providers of failing to reduce waiting times for invoices.

Jonathan Walsh of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who is acting on behalf of Mr Lawler, said his company looked at three similar mesothelioma cases late last year that were also delayed.

“These are very advanced cases, they have given their affidavits, we have our expert evidence, and their lawyers have provided their evidence in response,” he said.

“So the case is very ready to be brokered and hopefully settled, but then this imposition of this one-month moratorium will delay everything considerably.

“While four weeks doesn’t seem long for icare, a month or four weeks is a very long time for people like Bill because he’s dealing with an incurable disease.”

In a statement, an icare spokeswoman said the agency had apologized for delays or confusion caused by service providers working on its behalf.

“Icare has no policy to delay participating in mediations or settlements,” she said.

“In all cases of dust-related illnesses, icare tries to repair damage in good time.

“Last year, icare noted that some stakeholder legal advice services from some legal service providers were not on time and requested that the pre-mediation advice should be given as soon as possible before the mediation.”

Icare is the largest employee compensation scheme in the country. (Four Corners)

The state insurer has been beset by controversy since a joint Four Corners investigation with The Age and Sydney Morning Herald found the systems in Victoria and NSW were facing significant financial problems.

The coverage found that icare was losing hundreds of millions of dollars and systematically having underpaid workers.

NSW opposition finance spokesman Daniel Mookhey said those battling asbestos-related diseases deserve “quick justice”.

“You shouldn’t have to waste a single breath fighting a discredited bureaucracy,” he said.

“Instead, the insurer should bend back to relieve a mesothelioma victim’s suffering.”

A spokesman for Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, whose office ordered an audit of icare last year, said the affairs were “operational in nature” and the responsibility of the icare board and management.