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The world of Industrial Disease can be quite big and daunting. That’s why we’ve broken it down in an easy way so you can hopefully find what you’re looking for. Here are some useful articles regarding Mesothelioma Compensation Claims.
As the cause of mesothelioma is widely recognised to be asbestos, the condition is classed as an industrial disease. This means that people who have mesothelioma will almost certainly be eligible for a mesothelioma compensation claim because the only way it’s possible to be exposed to asbestos, in the levels required for it to develop, is to be working with it. So, if your employer did not warn you about the dangers or provide you with the proper safety equipment and training for working with asbestos, they failed in their duty to keep you safe whilst in their care. When this happens you are entitled to make a claim for industrial disease compensation.
There are lots of reasons why you might want to claim mesothelioma compensation. The first and, arguably, the most important reason is to ensure you, and your family, have money to live on if you are unable to work, which is likely to happen as your disease progresses. Many of those affected are men, who are probably the main breadwinners of the family, so losing out on a full time wage can create financial chaos for a family. And, if the worst should happen, you’ll want to know that your loved ones will be cared for financially. We don’t like to make any promises as to how much you could be likely to receive, so prefer not to give any figures. But, what we can tell you, is that any mesothelioma claims would involve an amount for the:
We can also advise you on the state benefits you may be entitled to claim as a result of being unable to work.
Anyone who is, or has in the past, worked with asbestos may contract mesothelioma, and may be able to claim due to their employer’s negligence. In the past, those who were most exposed worked in the traditional building industries, as well as shipbuilding. But, they are not the only ones who are at risk, the families of those people are too! This is because asbestos fibres are sharp, which allows them to stick to clothes and equipment. When that equipment is taken home for washing, the fibres are deposited into the homes of the workers, allowing them to be breathed in by family members. There have been some recent cases of the wives of shipyard workers suffering with mesothelioma, which they’ve developed through the washing of their partners’ clothes.
Firstly, there’s more than one kind of mesothelioma and the different kinds can produce different symptoms. Secondly, the condition can take from 20-50 years to show itself and, even when it does, the symptoms can be so vague that it often goes undiagnosed for a very long time. To highlight the difficulty in diagnosing this condition, here are some of the symptoms it can produce include:
As you can see, all of these symptoms could be present in any number of other illnesses, such as relatively harmless and easily treatable respiratory tract infections. This makes an early diagnosis of mesothelioma unlikely. Usually, by the time the condition has been diagnosed, it’s fairly well advanced. Once the condition has reached this stage, working and living a normal life are not that likely. This is where compensation becomes extremely important. It will allow you to live your life in as normal a way as possible if you are unable to work in the future. That’s where the advice of an expert helps. Here at Regent Law, we understand how difficult it is to live with such a debilitating condition. So we’ll work hard to ensure that you receive the mesothelioma compensation you need to pay for future medical treatments, any care you may need as your condition progresses and your day-to-day living costs.
The likelihood of you being exposed to asbestos, outside of the high risk jobs already mentioned, is slim. You may encounter it in your loft or wrapped around your hot water tank, as it’s used as insulation and lagging. But, as long as it’s not been disturbed, there shouldn’t be any risk, or it will be minimal. So, the chances of your developing mesothelioma having not worked in one of the risk occupations, is very low. However, if you did work in one of the high risk occupations in the past, even if you don’t have any symptoms of the condition at the present time, it still might be worth looking back at your past work history to see if you were given the correct training and equipment to work with asbestos. If you think you may have been exposed, you should seek both medical and legal advice.
Diagnosis is difficult. As we’ve mentioned above, it can take 20-50 years for the symptoms to appear and when they do, they can easily be mistaken for many other conditions or illnesses. In order for your doctor to diagnose mesothelioma, a number of tests need to be carried out. Alongside the tests, your doctor will ask a series of questions to determine whether you might have been working in one of the high risk areas and what level of exposure you may have had. Full details of the diagnostic process, the different stages, treatments and prognosis can be found in Mesothelioma – Accept the diagnosis, But Maybe Not the Prognosis!. Our expert mesothelioma solicitors are trained to discover whether your diagnosis was done the right way, and can use their legal knowledge to build a case for compensation that is tough to defend against.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) provides plenty of helpful information, particularly for those that still deal with asbestos and its removal; whilst The British Lung Foundation is running the ‘Take 5 and Stay Alive’ campaign which details more about asbestos in the home. Local councils can also provide advice and information on homes that may contain it.
If you have spoken to your GP and have received a diagnosis, or you suspect that you may be affected, you should speak to us about making a mesothelioma compensation claim today. We’ll have to ask some pretty in-depth questions, as we need to establish who is responsible for your exposure to asbestos. So, it’s useful to have all your information ready before you contact us. Try to gather the name and address details of all the places you’ve worked over the years; make notes about what you did; what safety equipment you were supplied with; the state of repair of that equipment and if adequate training was provided for using it correctly. Once you have all this get in touch with one of our Claims experts.
Contact our solicitors directly on 01204 201296 or email us on admin@regentlaw.co.uk alternatively visit our offices at Suite 19 Freckleton Business Centre Freckleton Street Blackburn BB2 2AL.
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