Personal injury law experts have welcomed a Supreme Court decision that could see Teesside asbestos victims’ families given more compensation.

Sally Knauer contracted mesothelioma while working as an administrative assistant at Guy’s March Prison in Dorset from 1997 to 2007. She died in 2009 aged just 46.

The Ministry of Justice initially denied liability in the case, in which widow Ian Knauer claimed for future loss of dependency, but they changed their stance in July 2014.

An annual figure was agreed for the loss of income and services to the family, but there was a dispute over the number of years by which it should be multiplied. Mr Knauer’s lawyers claimed the figure should be calculated from the date of the trial, rather than the date of death.

The judge in the original trial was forced to follow two earlier House of Lords decisions and set the multiplier from the date of death – although he made it clear he did not agree with that position.

In a joint judgment agreed by all seven Supreme Court justices sitting in the case, Lord Neuberger and Lady Hale agreed that calculating loss of dependency damages from the date of death leads to most claimants being under-compensated.

They said the legal landscape had changed since the House of Lords’ decisions in the earlier cases. Their decision will give the family an additional £53,000 in compensation, which now amounts to £647,840, including interest.

“This decision is a common sense decision that takes account of the many changes that have taken place since the case law was established,” said Anthony McCarthy, of Macks Solicitors.

“It will lead to increased damages not only in asbestos cases but in most fatal accident claims. Current cases will need to be reviewed to take this into account and cases that have been settled but not yet approved by the court could also be reviewed.”