Losing a loved one to mesothelioma is a distressing time for all family members and the thought of claiming compensation can often be the last thing on one’s mind. However, our lawyers aim to make the process of claiming for mesothelioma compensation for family members as stress free as possible.

Claims for mesothelioma are not only complicated legally and medically, they are very emotive. If the client is still alive, he or she is generally old and infirm, making it sometimes challenging to get instructions and ensure advice is fully understood. Where a client has sadly passed away, dealing with the client’s family requires the utmost sensitivity, understanding and patience as the client’s passing is still fresh in everyone’s minds.

So as well as legal expertise and knowledge, our lawyers have an excellent bedside manner, providing comfort and support as well as legal guidance.

In the following article, we look at an example of how our expert mesothelioma compensation solicitors successfully secured compensation for mesothelioma on behalf of family members.

Our solicitors were first contacted by Mrs N in September 2014, on behalf of the estate of her late mother, Mrs J, in relation to bringing an asbestos related disease claim for compensation, who passed away as a result of mesothelioma.

This case was particularly interesting because it was alleged that Mrs J had developed the disease as a result of secondary exposure to asbestos dust in the course of washing her husband’s asbestos covered overalls.  The fact that Mr J had predeceased her and there was no witness evidence from either Mrs J or her husband made establishing breach of duty all the more challenging.

Mrs J was the widow of Mr J who worked for a sugar refinery from 1966 to around 1977.

Mr J worked as a pipe fitter’s mate at the company’s sugar refinery plant which was based in Newton Le Willows in the county of Merseyside.  As a pipe fitter’s mate he would assist with the daily maintenance of the pipes in the factory.  The pipes in the factory were lagged with asbestos and Mr J’s work involved cutting through the asbestos in order to be able to reach the part of the pipe that he had to repair or replace.  The lagging would then be removed and thrown into a tip.  Such work would have involved Mr J disturbing and being exposed to large amounts of asbestos dust.  Mr J also worked in the boiler rooms where the pipes were also lagged with asbestos.  Mr J would also have to relag the pipes after the repair work was completed, which would again have involved him being exposed to large quantities of asbestos dust.

As a result of his work, he would have been covered in asbestos dust.  There were no washing facilities in the factory so employees were required to take their overalls home to be washed.  It was in the process of washing the overalls that Mrs J was exposed to asbestos dust.

In late 2010 Mrs J began to suffer from shortness of breath.  She began to lose weight and was diagnosed with mesothelioma following a CT scan in October 2012.

Mrs J sadly passed away soon afterwards, at the end of October 2012.

Although mesothelioma was recorded as the official cause of death on Mrs J’s death certificate, no biopsy had taken place and it was therefore potentially open to the Defendant to challenge the diagnosis of mesothelioma.  Moreover, Mrs Js’ tissue samples had been destroyed at the family’s request prior to us being instructed, which gave rise to further potential complications as it would have been open to the Defendant to try and have the case thrown out on the grounds that potentially crucial forensic evidence had been destroyed.

Although Mrs N remembered her late father coming home covered in dust and her mother washing her father’s overalls, as she had been a child at the time, she was unable to provide precise information about the nature of her father’s work and his exposure to asbestos dust.  Her evidence alone would not have been sufficient to establish liability.  It was therefore crucial to try and identify a witness who had worked alongside Mr J and could provide supportive witness evidence in relation to the precise nature of his work and exposure to asbestos dust.  Fortunately, we were able to trace such a witness who provided powerful evidence in this regard.  On the basis of this evidence, the Defendant conceded breach of duty.  However, it was still necessary to establish causation and given the lack of a biopsy and the absence of tissue samples, it was potentially open to the Defendant to challenge medical causation.  We therefore instructed a leading medical expert in the field who after examining the deceased’s x-rays and scans provided supportive medical evidence and was prepared to confirm that Mrs J had developed mesothelioma as a result of secondary exposure to asbestos dust despite the absence of a biopsy.

The Defendant accepted this evidence and did not seek to challenge it.

Having established both breach of duty and causation, we were successful in securing a mesothelioma compensation award of £100,000 for Mrs J’s estate and her family members.

Please call us on 01507 609027 or submit an enquiry using the online form on the right hand side of this page and we will call you to discuss a  mesothelioma compensation claim in detail.

We handle all asbestos claims with the utmost care and compassion, and work hard to support you and your family through an emotionally testing period.