Asbestos compensation claims

If you would like an initial free assessment of your potential asbestos compensation claim, please:

Asbestos compensation claims overview

In order to win your asbestos-related claim, we will need to prove the following points, on a balance of probabilities:

• Was somebody else responsible for your safety in the workplace?
• Was there a foreseeable risk of your exposure to asbestos dust?
• Were adequate precautions taken to prevent your exposure?
• Did your exposure to asbestos dust actually cause your condition?

Duty of Care

Our first step is to try to establish that a "duty of care" (or legal responsibility) was owed to you.

In previous asbestos-related compensation claims, the following have been held to owe a duty of care:

• Your employer (or ex-employer)
• The owner (or controller) of the premises where you were sent to work
• Other contractors (and/or their employees) working near you
• The owner of premises where asbestos was processed, even though you did not actually work there

Foreseeability

Next we need to prove that your exposure was foreseeable.

To do so, we need evidence of the following:

• The circumstances of your exposure
• The type of asbestos used. Different types of asbestos represent different levels of danger, for example, crocidolite (blue asbestos) can be roughly 500 times more dangerous than chrysotile (white asbestos)
• How many weeks, months or years your exposure lasted
• During that time, the intensity of your exposure to asbestos dust

Breach of duty

Our next step is to prove breach of duty, in order words that somebody else failed to keep you safe, who should have done.

One major question is when your exposure took place. Over the years, public knowledge of the risks of asbestos dust has increased. Generally speaking, asbestos claims arising from exposure from the mid 1960s onwards are more likely to succeed.

Usually, the breach of duty will be dealt with by factual evidence, such as:

• Were you warned about asbestos dust?
• Was dust extraction equipment provided?
• Were respirators provided and/or an insufficient supply of filters?

Causation

Next we need to prove that your condition was actually caused by exposure to asbestos dust.

To establish causation, we will first need to have a diagnosis of your condition and secondly a medical link to your exposure.

Previous Claims

I have previously helped a number of different victims of asbestos exposure (and their widows) to obtain compensation, including:

• A carpenter working at a new television centre in Birmingham, who was exposed to asbestos dust by insulation contractors working nearby;



• A production worker exposed to large quantities of asbestos dust while employed at the Dicks Eagle asbestos factory in East London;



• An individual who worked as an apprentice carpenter in Southampton from 1967-71 and was exposed to asbestos dust by his employers;



• A labourer (and later painter) employed by the Ministry of Defence at HM Naval Dockyard, Portsmouth. He spent much of his time working alongside laggers and other workmen whose job it was to remove, mix and renew asbestos lagging insulating the machinery on board ships;



• An bricklayer's labourer, who helped overhaul brick-lined ships' furnaces on board ships under repair. In the process was exposed to asbestos dust. He later worked as a boilermaker's mate and his exposure continued;



• An individual from Gloucester who came into contact with asbestos dust while employed by a large commercial firm while working as a plumber and pipefitter, and who later contracted mesothelioma.

asbestos compensation claim