Our asbestos-related disease solicitors helped a widow of a lagger secure a substantial settlement from her late husband’s former employers.
Shortly after leaving school, Mr A worked as a lagger’s mate at Falcon Insulations Ltd in Bristol.
Mr A worked at various Ministry of Defence sites and local hospitals. Part of his duties included mixing asbestos paste from large bags of asbestos powder and helping laggers (engineers responsible for insulation in buildings) apply it to pipes.
The work was extremely messy and caused Mr A to inhale asbestos fibres on a daily basis while he mixed the paste.
Later in his career, Mr A worked for Dick’s Eagles Insulations Ltd as a lagger. While working here, he used hand tools to rip off old asbestos insulation from pipes.
After these jobs, Mr A set up his own business. He ran it successfully and had a retirement plan in place so he could stop working and live comfortably when he needed to.
In his mid-60s, Mr A started experiencing severe pain and often felt too ill to work. Doctors couldn’t work out what was wrong but eventually diagnosed him with peritoneal mesothelioma (a type of asbestos-related cancer that affects the stomach).
This was devastating news for Mr A and his family. Mr A contacted our asbestos lawyers to see if we could help make a claim against his previous employers. He was still working at the time but was very worried about how his wife and young adult children would cope after his death. He wanted to make sure they’d be looked after.
Sadly, Mr A died quite soon after contacting us. His widow instructed us to continue with the claim on behalf of his estate.
Our team, led by Isabelle Selley, got a medical report from a respiratory physician to show Mr A was exposed to harmful asbestos fibres while at work.
Falcon Insulations Ltd and Dick’s Eagles Insulations Ltd admitted they were responsible and we secured a substantial interim payment for Mr A’s family. This meant they got part of their compensation early to help with their costs while the claim continued.
Agreeing the overall compensation sum was complicated because Mr A was still working when he died. When Mr A died, his business was forced to close which ruined his retirement plan for his family.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t agree with Mr A’s former employers on a settlement sum and the claim was set to go to trial. Seven days before the trial date, however, we negotiated a substantial final settlement that would be enough to support Mr A’s family in future.
Isabelle Selley commented: “Although no sum of money will ever replace the loss of a husband and father, we’re pleased Mr A’s family are at least relieved of financial worry.
This case shows that employers have a duty to make sure their workers are protected from harmful substances and have the protective equipment they need at all times to keep them safe.”
If you or a loved one have suffered from an asbestos related disease, contact our specialist solicitors on 0370 1500 100 or fill out our online form.
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