Mark Bush

Mark specialises in asbestos disease claims, together with complex psychiatric injury claims.

He has over 23 years’ experience advising insurer and corporate clients across a range of sectors in relation to compensation claims arising from RTA and EL/PL contexts, both injury and industrial disease. His key clients include Riverstone UK Insurance, Cape Plc and Marks & Spencer Plc.

Mark’s caseload is dominated by high value fatal claims often involving novel and complex claims for dependency, and where the corporate and insurance cover backgrounds are difficult to untangle. He typically advises insurers and/or uninsured successor-corporations on apportionment solutions and settlement strategies, alongside potential defence arguments and evidence-gathering. He is recognised by his clients for providing prompt and pragmatic advice, and for resolving otherwise intractable cases.

He also prepares and delivers bespoke training to insurer client claims teams on topical issues as requested. Recent examples including defending asbestosis claims, and the effect of the CA decision of Bussey v Anglia Heating on foreseeable risk defences.

Relevant experience includes advising:

• Cape Plc as to the preparation and integration of available documentary and witness evidence by which to defend historical claims of asbestos exposure. This has enabled the client and its insurers to mount defences to mis-directed claims in circumstances where, previously, there would have been little option but to concede.
• Riverstone and AXA LM in relation to recovering significant contributions to settlements from corporate occupiers of sites when the original claim was directed against employer-contractors. This has included the negotiation of a claims handling agreement between the insurer of a London Docks stevedoring company and an international shipping line in relation to the transport and unloading of raw asbestos cargos. It has led to considerable saving in legal costs as well as recovery of outlay.
• Advising the EL insurer in the recently reported High Court decision in Rix v Paramount Shopfitting Ltd, which concerned a substantial claim for financial dependency by the widow of an entrepreneur. Questions arose as to whether any actual loss had been suffered, and if so, how it ought to be quantified. This is a claim that is likely now to proceed to the CA.

In addition, outside of work Mark has maintained an active interest in ancient history and archaeology, volunteering over the last few years on an excavation near Stonehenge. In turn this has led him to devote considerable time to orchestrating a legal challenge to the proposed Stonehenge tunnel. This has involved attending and speaking at public examination meetings, liaising with well-known professors and experts in archaeology, the national press and other interested groups including UNESCO, and collaborating with planning barristers and experts to prepare written submissions to the Planning Inspectorate and to the Secretary of State or Transport.