If you have received a diagnosis of mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, it can be life-changing for both you and your family. As well as the effect on your health and wellbeing, it could also have a serious financial impact.
At Ashtons Legal we understand how hard it can be to bring a claim at such a difficult time and you can rest assured that we will do all we can to make the process as easy and stress-free as possible for you.
Whichever asbestos-related condition you have been diagnosed with, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis or pleural thickening, it is advisable to seek legal representation as soon as you can.
Our specialist asbestos-related disease solicitors Sylvia Phillips and Andrew Wilson have in-depth expertise in this area of law and have secured substantial compensation for mesothelioma claims in Norwich and for our clients with other diseases caused by exposure to asbestos dust.
Sylvia and Andrew are members of our personal injury team, which has been ranked highly in leading legal directories The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for more than 20 years. The Law Society has also accredited our firm for our personal injury law expertise.
We know that for clients the costs of bringing a legal claim is often a concern. We believe that the law should be accessible to everyone and for this reason we offer ‘no win, no fee’ type arrangements so that you do not have to pay anything upfront in order to commence your claim for asbestos compensation.
This also means that there is no financial risk to you if your claim is not successful.*
*Subject to entering into a conditional fee agreement in conjunction with a suitable insurance policy to cover any unrecovered disbursements and complying with your responsibilities under the terms of both.
Book a free no-obligation chat about starting your mesothelioma or other asbestos-related disease claims
We know that you and your family probably have many questions about bringing a claim for asbestos compensation that you would like answered, such as:
- Do I have sufficient grounds to claim compensation for my asbestos-related illness?
- How much compensation am I entitled to?
- How do I make an asbestos claim?
- What will happen if the individual or business that caused my exposure to asbestos cannot be traced?
- How long will my asbestos compensation claim take?
- Can I have an interim compensation payment to pay for private treatment or rehabilitation while my claim is ongoing?
- Can I bring a claim for compensation if I caught the asbestos-related disease by washing my partner’s dust-covered clothing instead of being in the contaminated workplace myself?
- Can a claim for compensation be brought after someone has died from mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases?
We are happy to answer all of these questions and any others that you may have in a free initial consultation with you. One of our specialist lawyers will go through your queries and explain the process to you. We are happy to come to your home to do this if you wish.
We have offices in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and in addition, we regularly act for individuals elsewhere, particularly in places that have traditionally had a strong industrial present. We also frequently act for clients in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex and Leicestershire.
If you would prefer to speak to us virtually, we can offer you our initial consultation via Microsoft Teams or another digital platform of your choosing. We can also see you in one of our offices in Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Norwich or Ipswich.
To arrange a free initial consultation with one of our asbestos claims specialists, please contact our Norwich office.
Our mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease claims expertise
Our team have a strong track record of success in claiming compensation in respect of the following diseases:
- Mesothelioma
- Asbestosis
- Respiratory injury
- Pleural thickening
- Lung cancer caused by asbestos
Our personal injury specialists also have wide-ranging expertise in other types of industrial diseases and workplace injuries.
How we can help you to claim asbestos and mesothelioma compensation
Working out if you can bring a claim and who is responsible
If you instruct us to represent you in your claim for compensation, we will start by collecting together all of the relevant evidence and reviewing it. We will speak to you and sometimes to your colleagues and former colleagues as well about the conditions in the place where you were working.
When we investigate asbestos claims, this sometimes involves putting together a timeline of the places where you have worked. Some of the individuals who come into contact with asbestos during their work include joiners, electricians, construction workers, shopfitters, carpenters, painters and decorators, plumbers and building surveyors who may have moved to different properties and been exposed to asbestos dust in a range of locations over the years.
In bringing a claim for compensation for mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease claim we will consider the following points:
- Duty of care – what should your employer and their organisation have done to protect you?
- Statutory duty – what did the law at the time say that their duty was?
- Was the duty of care or statutory duty breached by your employer?
- How did you become exposed to the substance or process that caused your injury or illness?
It may be the case that you cannot identify where it was that you were exposed to asbestos dust, even though you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease. In that case, it may be that you suffered secondary exposure, for example, by breathing in the dust from your partner’s work clothes or from living near an industrial site where asbestos was present and escaping into the environment.
Why asbestos-related disease claims are different to other injury claims
Most people who develop mesothelioma, asbestosis or another asbestos-related disease do so several decades after their exposure to asbestos dust. This means that it is not always immediately apparent where and when the contact occurred.
Our specialist asbestos solicitors understand this and will make sure that they ask you the right questions to help you establish what happened and so that they can put together the strongest possible case on your behalf.
Valuing your asbestos compensation claim
Our experts will assess how much compensation you could be likely to receive, which will be based on the severity of your illness and its likely impact on your financial position.
The value of a claim can vary greatly depending on the extent of your disease, the time of life that you are in and your financial situation.
By way of illustration, the following are a number of recent cases where we have won asbestos-related disease and industrial disease compensation payments for our clients:
- Six figure settlement secured for mesothelioma sufferer’s family – Ashtons Legal
- £50,000 obtained for former Norfolk carpenter – Ashtons Legal Solicitors
- Six-figure sum obtained for family of mesothelioma sufferer – Ashtons Legal
- Substantial settlement for a Norfolk man diagnosed with Mesothelioma (ashtonslegal.co.uk)
- Rapid £50,000 initial payment obtained for Suffolk mesothelioma sufferer – Ashtons Legal
- £175,000 obtained for family of Cambridgeshire mesothelioma sufferer – Ashtons Legal
- Five figure sum obtained for family of Norfolk metal worker – Ashtons Legal
- Over £100,000 obtained for family of mesothelioma sufferer – Ashtons Legal
- £40,000 obtained for family of asbestos-related lung cancer sufferer – Ashtons Legal
Obtaining interim payments for asbestos-related disease claims
It is usually the case that we will make an application for an interim payment on your behalf. This is money that will be paid to you early on in the claims process to allow you to fund private treatment or replace lost income or to make sure that your quality of life is as good as possible for the remainder of your life if your diagnosis is terminal.
Receiving interim payments for your asbestos-related disease should at a minimum ensure that you do not suffer any financial hardship during the course of your claim.
The process of an asbestos disease claim
Most personal injury cases are settled without the need for court hearings. This includes mesothelioma and wider asbestos-related disease claims. Our personal injury solicitors will negotiate with the legal team or insurance company representing the individual or organisation responsible for your illness to agree on a sum to compensate you.
Our lawyers are expert negotiators and you can be sure that we will work hard to obtain the best possible settlement on your behalf. If it is not necessary to go to court, the case can be concluded more quickly.
If your case does go to court, we will ensure that you have the strongest possible case and robust representation from experts in the field of asbestos-related claims. We will support and advise you throughout and make sure that we are available to speak to you as needed.
Occasionally, where the exposure to asbestos dust occurred many years ago, the source or the individual or business responsible cannot be traced. If this is the case for you and you are suffering from mesothelioma, we can represent you in making a claim from the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme.
Claiming for an asbestos-related disease when someone has died
Sometimes asbestos-related diseases, particularly mesothelioma, are not diagnosed until the cancer is at an advanced stage. Sadly, this means that the affected person may die before their claim for compensation is begun or concluded. We have represented many families in bringing successful claims on behalf of their loved one who has passed away.
For clients who require palliative care, we are fortunate to have many excellent hospices both in East Anglia and beyond. We always include hospice fees in our claim. If you let us know where the treatment was, we can ask the hospice for a note of their costs and add it the compensation that we are requesting. When the compensation is agreed, we will ask for a separate cheque for the hospice fees which you or your family can present to the hospice.
Book your free initial consultation with our specialist asbestos claims solicitors in Norwich
If you have questions about bringing mesothelioma compensation claims in Norwich and you would like an initial consultation, please get in touch.
You can contact our Norwich office or use our online enquiry form to request a callback and we will be happy to arrange a meeting for you with one of our expert asbestos solicitors in Norwich.