“What are they waiting for? For me to die?”: compensation deadlines too long for asbestos patients

2023-12-18 17:50:00

“What are they waiting for to pay me the compensation? For me to die?” Henry Tite-Grés has heard this exasperation all too often. President of the Asbestos Prevention and Repair Committee (Caper), he has been supporting veterans of the La Seyne-sur-Mer shipyards, the former DCN and subcontracting companies for almost a quarter of a century. their procedures for recognizing the disease. In total, more than 6,000 compensation cases for asbestos-related pathologies have been prepared and defended by CAPER!

After so many years, one might think that the wheels of victim compensation are well oiled. Not that much, actually. And that’s why Henry Tite-Grés decided to “to give a big rant” against the Primary Health Insurance Fund of Var. The precise reason for his anger: the delays in payment of compensation, while provisional executions were decided by the social center of the Toulon judicial court. “Despite several reminder letters sent by our lawyers to the director and president of the board of directors of the CPAM du Var, several compensation payments remain outstanding”denounces the president of Caper.

Difficult situations

By putting on pressure, Henry Tite-Grés has already achieved some success in the recent past. Last February, by involving a bailiff, he managed to speed up some of the 22 most problematic cases. “The reason is that people waiting to receive compensation, whether people suffering from an occupational disease or their dependents, are often in difficult situations”slips the president of Caper.

The fact remains that certain files – 5 or 6 at present – are still not moving forward even though the sums involved can exceed 100,000 euros. “It is completely immoral that the CPAM du Var does not honor court decisions”, insists Henry Tite-Grés. Far from giving up, the latter announces that, at a future court hearing, he will ask Caper’s lawyers to “point the finger at the slow payment of the CPAM” and to ensure “that a payment deadline, of the order of four months after the hearing, be put in place”. And why not “with a penalty per day of delay”.

Often complex files

Henry Tite-Grés, president of the Asbestos Prevention and Repair Committee (CAPER), poses in front of a lithograph by Var painter Jean-Pierre Giacobazzi showing apprentices from the shipyards of La Seyne-sur-Mer. (Photo PLP)..

Asked about this file, Health Insurance confirms in the preamble: “the full commitment of the CPAM du Var concerning the application of court decisions, whatever they may be”.

And if it does not call into question certain lengths in the payment of compensation, it justifies them in these terms: “The complexity linked to the decision rendered may sometimes require consolidating the elements in order to make payment more reliable. Despite everything, out of the twenty or so files covered by your request (linked to requests for inexcusable faults on the part of the employer in the context asbestos), almost all of these have been executed and the victims compensated. For the few cases still pending (two to date), the execution time of the judgments has been extended in view of their complexity : in fact, the problem is particular, the judgments recognizing a new pathology linked to asbestos and not the aggravation of an existing pathology. This requires new calculations and new operations for their implementation. However, “Given the situation, the majority of compensation will be paid quickly to the victims or their beneficiaries. This corresponds, depending on the files, to payments of between more than half and more than 80% of the total sum.”.

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