Second chance for asbestos victim as Corries win £30,000 in case turned down by other solicitor
Corries asbestos claims team have secured nearly £30,000 for a work disease victim who had his case turned down by other solicitors
Corries are hardworking asbestos claim solicitors. We fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call now FREE on 0800 783 7839 and see if we can help you.
Asbestos claim – the facts
Mr L came to Corries in April 2016. He had been for advice to another nationally advertised solicitor. They turned his case down in July 2015 because they did not accept his description of exposure to asbestos and did not think he would get compensation. As a result he was left in limbo.
Mr L had worked in various factories in glue and gelatine production. This work involved working with and close to asbestos lagged pipes and equipment. His previous solicitors had not tried to trace any employers or insurers.
He asked Corries asbestos claims team to give him a second opinion. Our team have won other cases Solicitors did not back see here; https://www.corries.co.uk/corries-win-six-figure-asbestos-lung-cancer-case-turned-union/
What did we do?
First of all we got the previous solicitors papers. They had spoken to Mr L but had not gone into detail about the different dust and chemicals he was exposed to over his working life. As Mr L had been told about his asbestos disease- DIFFUSE PLEURAL THICKENING – in 2014 so we had to act quickly.
We went over his work history and the asbestos claim in great detail. His various employers had gone through complicated take overs, changes and closures.
In addition we made searches which were negative. However but we thought there was more to this. More research was done.
Our team went and visited Mr L at home. We used the trip out to get some local information about the places he had worked. This information was brought back to our team to investigate further.
We tried approaching other lawyers for help but no one was forthcoming.
As time ran out we had to issue court proceedings to protect the client’s claim.
Asbestos Claim – the road to court
We pressed on with evidence about his work and his health. Fortunately Mr L’s asbestos pleural thickening is stable.
We got one of our specialist barristers to advise and work on the court proceedings with us. Having an extra pair of eyes to look at the case was helpful.
We also used an asbestos claim court recognised engineer to confirm Mr L’s exposure to asbestos was in breach of duty.
One of our panel of medical experts confirmed the diffuse pleural thickening and that it was causing disability. To check we had the up to date picture we organised lung function tests and an up to date scan.
We put a bundle of evidence the defendant to settle the case in August 2017.
The defendants did not want to do so. They wanted and got permission to get their own evidence.
Asbestos claim – the eventual end
The defendants got and sent us their own engineer and medical expert evidence. However the facts were set out so plainly that there was little scope for anything other than a win for Mr L.
A course of negotiations started and after the fourth offer the case was agreed on a PROVISIONAL DAMAGES basis.
Mr L is 73 years old and now he has some money in the bank. More importantly he has a sealed court order that means that as long as he survives if the spectre of asbestos cancer raises its head he has legal protection in place for him and his family. This means they can return for as much as six figure further compensation should the very worse happen.
Some lessons learned
Howard Bonnett and Maria McMurray handled the claim. Maria commented;
“This case shows how hard our team works for asbestos disease victims. We do not put an asbestos claim down until we have exhausted every possibility. The practical lessons for any asbestos victim are:-
- See if your solicitor will come and visit you to discuss your case – we aim to see all our clients if there is a fighting chance of a claim
- Consider every workplace exposure site and hunt every angle down
- Use good experts and barristers with experience in asbestos cases who now what the battleground is
- Be prepared to fight through court proceedings and over a long course of time if necessary – few insurers roll over and the insurers in this case could have settled this in August 2017 but battled on for a further 20 months
Howard, Director and Team manager added;
“ My firm has to advertise and rely on our reputation to get each and every asbestos claim. As a result we have to fight for the work that we get. Cases do not get closed unless we are absolutely sure we have done everything we can
This is yet another story of my team winning a case others did not want. I suspect there may be many more in the future”
If you know someone who has been affected by asbestos and might have a claim then call our team FREE on 0800 083 7839. A three year time limit applies but if you are in time and have had your case turned down we might take it on and you might be lucky second time round.
We offer a FREE second opinion service. Give us a call- what have you got to lose?