The family of a man has received £62,693.50 compensation award following his unfortunate death due to extended asbestos exposure.

The Case

We were instructed by Mr L’s son after his father had been given our details by an asbestos support group, but passed away before instructing us. His son decided to proceed with the claim, which JMW Solicitors’ Andrew Lilley handled on his behalf.

The Claim

Mr L’s son told us that Mr L had been employed by two organisations as an electrician, and that exposure had been caused in both organisations. However, on further investigation, we were not able to turn up any evidence to support any claim against one of the organisations, so we therefore pursued the other employer as the sole defendant.

Gathering Evidence

We asked Mr L’s son to send us a copy of the Grant of Probate and a copy of the inquest report, once this had been carried out.

Meanwhile, we began to get witness evidence to support the claim. We contacted a former colleague of Mr L’s, as we had previously settled a claim for the colleague’s wife, who had passed away after being exposed to asbestos dust from her husband, asking if we could obtain a witness statement from him. He provided us with a personal statement, and a statement from his dead wife, highlighting that their mutual employer had exposed them both to asbestos.

We also got in touch with the former foreman of Mr L’s previous employer, who provided a witness statement for us, confirming that Mr L had indeed been exposed to asbestos whilst working for that employer.

The post-mortem confirmed that Mr L had passed away from mesothelioma. The conducting pathologist also found multiple asbestos bodies, and concluded that this was consistent with occupational exposure.

We also requested a copy of Mr L’s employment history from HMRC, to verify that Mr L had worked for employers who had exposed him to asbestos, and we requested a copy of Mr L’s medical history.

Letter of Claim

Andrew sent a letter of claim to Mr L’s former employer, highlighting his son’s intent to make a claim. He also got in touch with an independent consultant chest physician, asking him to provide a report on Mr L’s medical evidence. The physician confirmed that Mr L had passed away from mesothelioma and that it was most likely caused by exposure to asbestos via his employer. He passed a copy of this report to Mr L’s former employer as part of the evidence needed to progress the claim.

Andrew then drafted a Schedule of Loss document, outlining all the quantitative losses Mr L had suffered as a result of his illness, and the losses his family had experienced as a result of his passing away.

We finally heard from Mr L’s former employer, informing them that we wanted their insurer’s details, as we had had no explanation as to why the claim had been delayed. We then heard from a loss adjuster, employed by Mr L’s former employer, who informed us that there was some uncertainty as to who the ultimate paymasters of the claim may be. Andrew prepared a Particulars of Claim document and forwarded it to the loss adjuster, together with notification that, in the absence of a prompt response, we would be advising Mr L’s son to issue court proceedings on the claim.

Final Settlement

Andrew then heard from the loss adjuster, who wished to have a meeting to discuss settlement of the claim. After negotiation, a settlement figure was put forward by the loss adjuster, which was agreed as an appropriate figure to settle the case at, and recommended Mr L’s son accept the settlement offer. Mr L’s son agreed to this offer and was delighted to have the case resolved.