A builder who worked with the asbestos for at least ten years died of an industrial disease, according to an inquest.
Hemel Today reported that Hatfield coroner's court heard how Dennis Weeden of George Street, Berkhamsted, cut up asbestos for garage roofs while working for a building company during the 1960s.
He died earlier this year, aged 72, at the Hospice of St Francis from mesothelioma, a cancer which lines the outside of the lungs and abdomen.
Public liability insurance customers were warned by the coroner, Edward Thomas, that a lengthy exposure such as this can cause illness and death.
"I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities Mr Thomas' death arose from the fairly substantial occupational exposure over at least a ten-year period," he added.
Recently, public liability insurance holders were given a warning of the big fines that can be placed on companies for breaking asbestos regulations.
Canadian Vale Inco Europe was made to pay £40,000 for exposing employees and contractors to asbestos at its Swansea plant.