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Asbestosis Compensation Claims

 

If you or a member of your family is suffering from asbestosis, our specialist personal injury lawyers may be able to help you claim compensation. Contact us today on 0800 032 8511 for claim advice, or by completing a claim enquiry form.

What Causes Asbestosis?
Symptoms of Asbestosis
Making an Industrial Disease Claim
Asbestosis Compensation
Specialist Legal Advice

Successful Asbestosis Claims

What Causes Asbestosis?

Asbestosis is an industrial disease brought on by the inhalation of asbestos fibres, usually over a number of years. Generally this occurs in people who have worked with asbestos as part of their job, however there are other circumstances under which exposure can occur.

Those most at risk would be persons employed in industries that used asbestos extensively, such as construction workers, heating engineers and shipbuilders, and also their families who may have been exposed second hand.

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Symptoms of Asbestosis

The asbestos fibres enter the lungs and cause them to react and become irritated. This in turn results in scarring and thickening of the tissues, often referred to as fibrosis. Due to this, the sufferer may experience discomfort and tightness of the chest, with breathing difficulty. In some cases asbestosis can be fatal. Dependent upon the stage and severity of the condition however, the symptoms do vary greatly from person to person.

The nature of asbestosis is that the condition almost always presents itself a number of years after the initial exposure to asbestos. This is also something that differs in each case, however, and often depends upon the intensity and duration of exposure. In smokers, the risk of developing lung cancer is also increased if asbestosis is present.

Anyone affected should receive regular check ups and tests from their doctor, to ensure that their condition is well monitored and managed.

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Making an Industrial Disease Claim

These type of diseases do not show themselves quickly after exposure. They can take many years to develop. By then the person you need to make a claim against (perhaps an employer) may no longer be alive or in business. Pursuing these claims is complicated and is best dealt with by an experienced personal injury lawyer.

In every case, medical evidence will be required. Detailed expert evidence is often also required in disease cases to show that the condition suffered by a claimant was caused by exposure to a particular substance.

In any personal injury claim it is necessary to show that the person you are making a claim against owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty of care (were negligent), and that the injury you sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence.

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Asbestosis Compensation

There are two elements to a compensation award. The first is for the pain and suffering you may have gone through and what is known as loss of amenity. This is called general damages and can include an award for your inability to do things that you used to be able to do before, eg wash your car, look after your garden, walk the dog etc. The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period or for ever if that is what the medical evidence supports.

The second element of a compensation award is for your losses and expenses and is known as special damages. It is important to keep receipts for any expenditure you have related to your industrial disease, so that these can be reclaimed. The aim is to put you back in a position financially as if the illness had never developed.

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Specialist Legal Advice

At The Legal Line, our lawyers are experts in all areas of personal injury, including asbestosis and other industrial diseases. They can therefore offer specialist asbestos compensation claim advice to anyone who believes that they, or a member of their family is, or has been, suffering from work-related asbestosis.

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Successful Asbestosis Claims

Below you will find details of some of the many successful claims our lawyers have made on behalf of asbestosis victims:

• Asbestosis diagnosed after years in the locomotive maintenance industry
  
  Like many of his generation, one of our clients left school at 14 and went to work as an apprentice in the industry surrounding the production and maintenance of locomotives. Specifically, he was employed as an apprentice and later, after completing his national service, as a riveter.  During the late 1940s, and again from the mid 1950s for many years, he was routinely exposed to asbestos in the course of his work. He asked us to handle his asbestosis claim following his eventual diagnosis.
  
  Although not handling the asbestos removal himself, the asbestos lining the boilers was removed in adjacent pits by cutting the wire which held the huge asbestos sheets in place. This allowed the sheets to fall onto the floor creating huge clouds of asbestos dust, which filled the air over a wide area and was inhaled by our client and his colleagues.
  
  Another routine activity required a chisel to be used to remove asbestos and thereby gain access to the stays and studs of the boiler. Again clouds of asbestos fibres were allowed to fill the air, covering their clothes and settling on flat surfaces where it would be disturbed again.
  
  Over these many years, our client was never advised of the dangers, nor offered protective clothing. He and his colleagues were totally unaware of the dangers, and used to throw the asbestos around like snowballs.
  
  In the early 1990s our client began to complain of chest pains but even after x-rays revealed shadows on the lung he was advised that there was nothing to worry about. His condition gradually deteriorated, causing breathlessness and, after visits to his GP and a scan, he was finally advised in 2003 that he had a benign asbestos related condition. He has been diagnosed with early sub-pleural fibrotic change, with a risk of developing mesothelioma and / or lung cancer.
  
  Since then the breathlessness has increased so that he is now unable to carry out even mundane tasks such as washing or household tasks. His mobility is now vastly reduced and he rarely leaves the house, unable to visit family or friends and dependent upon them visiting him.
  
  The defendant accepted liability but the case was issued in court before it was settled. Our industrial disease lawyers, who specialise in asbestosis compensation claims, were able to secure over £30,000 in compensation for our client.
• Executors receive over £50,000 for clients estate following his death from Asbestosis.
  
  In their 80s, our client and his wife were a devoted couple. Since his wife suffered a stroke, our client cared for all her needs and was her lifeline in every physical way. He was also the means of communication between his wife and the outside world.

  Like many men of his generation, our client had worked in the same industry for most of his life and only for a few companies in that time. From the late 1930s through to the early 1960s, and again from the early 1970s through to the early 1980s, our client worked in engine rooms, boiler rooms and other areas of large ships. All of these locations contained vast areas of pipes, all of which were insulated with asbestos.

  It was common practice in these confined areas to remove asbestos insulation by tearing away by hand, or using a drill or knife to remove it. Our client had also worked constantly in close proximity to laggers. One practise used by the laggers was for them to put lumps of asbestos and water into a machine that allowed the asbestos insulation to be sprayed onto large areas of the ships. The laggers also worked with pre-formed sections of asbestos, which they cut to size with saws. They were also required to tip dry asbestos powder from sacks into drums and water was then added and mixed to form a paste. The asbestos waste from all these activities was left lying around before sweeping up with a dry brush, flinging large quantities of dust into the atmosphere, which our client inhaled.

  At no time was our client warned of the dangers of exposure to asbestos fibres, or provided with any training or protective clothing, which might have reduced the risks of developing one of the crippling asbestos-related diseases.

  Our client was initially diagnosed with pleural plaques and was successful in pursuing a claim for provisional damages. In 2003 however, following symptoms of increasing breathlessness, he was diagnosed with asbestosis. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he sadly died less than a year later. He spent his final year in considerable pain and suffering, heightened by the concern over the future care of his wife.  The cause of death was confirmed as asbestosis.

  Sadly, our client’s widow also passed away before the case could be successfully concluded, but our specialist industrial disease lawyers were able to secure over £50,000 in Industrial Disease Compensation Claim for his estate.

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