The High Court in Newcastle will decide whether sufferers of pleural plaques – caused by exposure to asbestos – can still claim. The outcome will be particularly relevant to Wearsiders, where shipbuilding was a major industry in pre-Thatcher Britain. Thousands of people in the region have the condition, which scars the lungs and can lead to potentially fatal forms of asbestosis. Compensation has been paid for the condition for more than 20 years, but British Shipbuilders and insurance firms Norwich Union and Zurich Insurance are arguing that the payouts should stop. Roger Maddocks, an industrial diseases expert from the Newcastle law firm Irwin Mitchell, said he would monitor the situation to see how it affected clients with claims. He said: “The insurance industry needs to face up to its responsibilities and realise that these claimants deserve compensation.” He added that asbestos victims should not be penalised because the insurance firms had made bad investment decisions. The High Court is expected to rule whether insurance companies can refuse to make pay-outs of £5,000 to £15,000 for people with pleural plaques.