Asbestosis – Supporting Larry’s Successful Claim

Asbestosis claims are complex so Larry contacted the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) for advice. They recommended Barratts so Larry engaged us to help with his claim.

Asbestosis Diagnosis & Making a Claim

Larry developed significant breathing problems and he had visited his doctor who referred him to a respiratory physician. The medical team took scans and they diagnosed Larry with asbestosis. Following this diagnosis his condition deteriorated. In addition to shortness of breath he began to develop persistent cough, wheezing, extreme fatigue, and very recently pain in his chest.  The medical team advised Larry to find a specialist industrial disease lawyer and he contacted APIL.

We took a very detailed statement from Larry setting out his previous employment. Asbestosis is caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. This meant that it was important that we found out where Larry could have been exposed to these.

Asbestos in the workplace

It transpired that he spent much of his working life installing fire suppression systems in large industrial units and also power stations. Although he himself did not work directly with asbestos, his working environment brought him into contact with pipe laggers who were using asbestos to insulate pipes. The environment was according to Larry extremely dirty and asbestos dust was visible in the air. There was no system to clean up and no proper ventilation or protective equipment. His employer never carried out any health surveillance. He was simply expected to get on with the job despite the potentially dangerous environment. (Check the HSE website for information on safe working practices and asbestos).

During his employment with the same employer he was sent to a variety of locations. To carry out our investigations our team needed to identify, locate and speak to witnesses. We required them to confirm the working conditions in each of these locations. This was an extremely lengthy and time consuming exercise. Eventually we were able to obtain powerful and compelling evidence from other individuals who had worked in the same environments. They corroborated completely Larry’s account of his exposure.

Claiming compensation when an employer has gone out of business

Unfortunately his previous employer was no longer in business. However we were able to establish who took over their work and therefore who was responsible for payment of any compensation. We issued Court proceedings against that organisation. After very lengthy negotiations with their legal team we were able to persuade them to make a very substantial offer of compensation to Larry. This reflected the fact that he had to give up work early and he therefore lost considerable earnings. Similarly his pension at pension age was lower than it would have been had he remained in employment and continued to contribute to the pension fund. He was also unable to contribute to household activities and maintaining his garden, and this was reflected in his damages.

Although we were not able to turn the clock back for Larry we were able to provide him with funds in order to assist him and make his last years as comfortable as possible.