July 9, 2019

Claim for mesothelioma for a 77 year old builder of agricultural buildings settles for £200,000 within 9 months of instruction

He instructed us with regards to a potential claim in March 2017. We immediately identified the insurers for his previous employers and sent details of the claim to them, as well as making applications for benefits and a lump sum from the government. Sadly, his condition progressed rapidly and he died in late April 2017.

Mr J had for many years worked erecting agricultural buildings for a firm in Buckinghamshire. Many of the agricultural buildings were concrete frame structures with asbestos roofs and walls. It was Mr J’s job to help manoeuvre, cut and fix the asbestos panels into place and to remove any unused or broken panels. He and his work mates would travel all over the country and would be away for weeks at a time, all sharing a small caravan with limited washing facilities. As a result they were all exposed to considerable levels of asbestos dust both as a result of their own work, but also from the overalls of their work mates. The building company was no longer trading, but it was possible to trace their insurers. Court proceedings were commenced in July of 2017. At the date of the court’s first review hearing in November the defendant insurers finally admitted responsibility for Mr J’s mesothelioma and agreed an interim payment of £50,000.00 and that judgment should be entered on the issue of liability. The Court fixed an assessment of damages hearing for April 2018.

Over the summer of 2017 Mrs J had a fall and fractured one of the vertebrae in her spine. She needed considerable care and assistance as a result. This was assistance that Mr J would have provided but for his mesothelioma, and the voluntary care and assistance provided by other family members formed part of Mrs J’s claim. The claim settled just before Christmas 2017 for £200,000.00.

Mr J had been a hard working man throughout his whole life and had wanted nothing more following his diagnosis than to make sure that his wife was going to be financially provided for. After the settlement his daughter wrote to Helen Childs who handled the case and said: “Thank you really doesn’t seem enough. Dad would have been blown away with all of this and I know if he could, he too would be sending many hugs to you and your team”.

Share on: