Restoration for Personal Injury Claims of Companies Dissolved Prior to 16 November 1969 – Section 1295 of the 2006 Act, and Schedule 16 (repeals)

Restoration to the register under the 2006 Act is contained in Chapter 3 of Part 31, which will be commenced with effect from 1 October 2009. Applications under Section 1030 may be made at any time for the purpose of bringing proceedings against a company for damages for personal injury. The 2006 Act does not restate the current bar on restoration of companies dissolved prior to 1969 (or 1971 in Northern Ireland).

As the bar will not be retained, the Government take the view it would be desirable to remove it without waiting for the commencement of Part 31 of the 2006 Act in October 2009. The relevant repeals are included in the Seventh Commencement Order, which took effect from 1 October 2008. The Seventh Commencement Order will commence section 1295 of the 2006 Act, and Schedule 16 (repeals), so far as relating to the repeals of the second sentence of section 141(4) of the Companies Act 1989 and of the second sentence of Article 75(4) of the Companies (No.2) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990.

The current bar means that some ex-employees or their estates are unable to press claims for compensation in respect of personal injury or fatal accident, either against the employing company, its insurers or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, simply because the company was dissolved prior to 1969 (or 1971 in Northern Ireland). Removing the bar may therefore enable such ex-employees or their estates to receive compensation which they are currently unable to obtain. This may be relevant in particular to sufferers of so-called long-tail diseases, such as mesothelioma.