JMW successfully obtained £226,000 for a widow after her husband was exposed to asbestos for an extended period of time during his working years, which eventually resulted in his death.

The Claim

Mr G trained as an engineering apprentice with British Airways after leaving school. Unfortunately, they exposed him to asbestos while working in asbestos-lined hangars. He was also exposed to asbestos as an apprentice and engineer when handling and dismantling asbestos brake linings for more than 10 years between the late 1960s to the mid/late 1970s.

He was diagnosed with mesothelioma and was advised to contact JMW Solicitors by his local asbestos support and awareness group. We agreed to fight his case on a no win, no fee basis.

Gathering Evidence For Our Case

We began to gather evidence to support Mr G’s case and took lengthy statements from him and his family members, which established how they had all been affected by the illness.

After we contacted them, Mr G’s former employers did not admit liability, and so we had to gather more evidence to support Mr G’s claim, including:

• An independent assessment of Mr G’s medical and work history by a consultant physician.
• Evidence from a consultant in occupational health and safety to verify that greater safeguards against asbestos exposure should have been in place.
• Supporting documentation (in the form of an engineering instruction booklet) that demonstrated Mr G’s working methods.

Sadly, Mr G passed away at this point. A post-mortem confirmed that Mr G died of mesothelioma and the inquest’s verdict was industrial disease. We continued the claim on behalf of Mr G’s family.

The Settlement

We compiled a Schedule of Loss providing information on all the quantifiable losses suffered by the family and forwarded this to the defendant’s solicitors, advising them that we would issue court proceedings if they did not admit liability for Mr G’s exposure to asbestos.

The solicitors admitted liability and made an offer to Mrs G. We advised Mrs G to reject this offer as it was too low, and forced the defendants to make three further offers to reach £226,000, which was an appropriate valuation of the claim.

Mrs G was delighted with the outcome and JMW's successful handling of the case.

Read Our Other Case Studies