We were contacted by the late Mr S following his diagnosis with mesothelioma. He had been exposed to asbestos many years ago whilst working in the UK and had later emigrated to New Zealand following his retirement in 2006. Having been exposed to asbestos in England, he required a solicitor within this jurisdiction to deal with the claim. His granddaughter contacted us in the first instance and remained the point of contact throughout the claim. We were able to take a detailed statement from Mr S by way of a video call. Mr S was able to meet and see his solicitor despite a face-to-face appointment not being possible.
Mr S left school and became an apprentice joiner. He went on to work for a series of companies and, as was very common in the 1960’s and 1970’s, experienced regular exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos exposure
One of the companies he worked for was Shepherd’s Construction. For them he worked on various jobs around the North East but spent the majority of his time working on the RAF base at Middleton St. George. Shepherd’s had the contract to do the maintenance there which involved all sorts of jobs including repairing and upgrading the buildings. There was a lot of asbestos lagged pipework around the base and Mr S remembered regularly working close to fitters working on it. As they carried out repairs to pipework and boilers, they had to remove the asbestos lagging and then replace it when the repair was finished. This was very dusty work and Mr S was unable to avoid breathing in the dust because he was not provided with a mask or any other breathing apparatus.
Mr S then moved to London and went to work in the construction industry. Several years later he moved to Basingstoke and worked for a company helping in the construction of Bryant’s Homes. Whilst most of his work here involved second fix joinery doing the skirting, architraves, doors, window frames and balustrades, which was all woodwork, he also had to fit asbestos soffits on occasion.
Unfortunately, by the time Mr S’s HMRC employment history arrived, he was too poorly to provide further instructions on the identity of his employers and he sadly passed away. Whilst Shepherd Construction were clearly detailed on his HMRC employment history, Bryant’s Homes were not and it was not clear which of his employers had been the one involved on this contract. The claim was therefore pursued solely against Shepherd Construction Limited.
Indivisible disease
Mesothelioma is what is known as an “indivisible” condition. This essentially means that it can be caused by a single episode of exposure and, on the basis that no one will ever know which single episode of exposure was responsible for the disease developing, if a claimant is able to prove sufficient exposure in a single episode or period of employment, then the claim will succeed in full against that company or defendant. In the circumstances, Mr S’s family were able to recover the full value of the claim against the insurers for Shepherd Construction.
Compensation was received on behalf of Mr S’s estate for the pain and suffering he had endured as a result of the disease. Claims were also made for the additional care and assistance provided to him by his family together with an amount for fees incurred by the local hospice in providing care. Further claims were made on behalf of Mr S’s widow in the form of recovery of the statutory bereavement award, the funeral expenses and dependency claims. The dependency claims related to both financial dependency and services dependency. As a married couple, Mr and Mrs S were financially dependent upon each other by virtue of their joint income. Given that the mesothelioma cut short Mr S’s life by seven years according to the medical evidence, Mrs S was able to claim loss of income for that period. In addition, it was argued that Mr S had contributed significantly to the maintenance of the house and garden and in the absence of his contribution, Mrs S would either require others to carry out those tasks or pay tradesmen.
A sense of justice
A strong bond was formed with this lovely family in New Zealand and we were really pleased to be able to secure a good settlement on their behalf in such tragic circumstances. Their appreciation was twofold, firstly in bringing justice for the loss of Mr S and, secondly, financial security for Mrs S for the years to come.
If you require assistance in pursuing a mesothelioma claim or believe you have a valid claim for any other asbestos-related disease, then please contact us today on our freephone number 0800 038 6767. Alternatively, head over to the ‘Contact Us’ page, complete the form and we will be in touch.