Mr W came to Nelsons following the death of his wife who had been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and passed away following a very short period of illness. As mesothelioma is reportable to the Coroner, an inquest was required which prompted Mr. W to seek advice.
Nelsons represented Mr W at the full inquest where the verdict was that Mrs W had died of the industrial disease of malignant mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos.
A claim for compensation was pursued on behalf of Mr W as Executor of the Estate of his Wife seeking damages for her pain and suffering, as well as in his own right, seeking a claim for loss of dependency and the fixed bereavement award and other miscellaneous losses.
Following the inquest, an investigation began into the possible exposure to asbestos by Mrs W. It soon became apparent that the most likely cause of her exposure to asbestos was her washing of Mr W’s clothes at the time when he was himself being exposed to asbestos working in power stations. Mr W was employed as a rigger involved in scaffolding and crane work, working within the boiler areas at power stations. He worked alongside laggers who were involved with mixing asbestos fibres on site and applying asbestos insulation.
Mr W would go to work in his own clothes, and change into overalls, but would leave his underclothes on. Even though showers were provided at work, he would still take his overalls home for Mrs W to wash.
More detailed investigations were then carried out to identify the places where Mr W worked, the employers that he worked for and the identity of their employers liability insurers. It was necessary to obtain detailed expert medical evidence from a consultant chest physician to deal with Mrs W’s medical condition diagnosed as malignant mesothelioma, and to address the possible link between her exposure to asbestos caused by washing Mr W’s work clothes and her illness.
The Compensation Claim was Successful
Although the insurers who dealt with Mr W’s claim never formally admitted liability and breach of duty, negotiations were carried out with a view to reaching settlement of Mr W’s claim. It was accepted by Mr W that there were difficult evidential and procedural issues involving establishing liability and proving the connection between his work and his wife’s illness.
Chris Stansfield finally settled the mesothelioma compensation claim for £60,000, and although there was no specific breakdown, the compensation was to reflect the claim by Mrs W’s Estate for general damages for her pain and suffering, and claims by Mr W for loss of dependency, compensation to reflect the gratuitous care and assistance provided by Mr W during his wife’s period of illness, the fixed bereavement award and other miscellaneous expenses.
Read more about the asbestos injuries and mesotheliona cases that Nelsons have handled by visiting our Personal Injury case studies page.
For advice on pursuing a claim for compensation please contact a member of our Persona Injury team.
