Pleural Thickening
Compensation Claims
Pleural thickening, also referred to as diffuse pleural thickening, is scarring which thickens the pleura (lining of the lungs). It can be caused by prolonged asbestos exposure.
As with other asbestos-related conditions, pleural thickening has a latency period of between 10 and 50 years meaning the symptoms of the disease do not occur until many years after the exposure to asbestos has occurred.
If you have been diagnosed with pleural thickening and have been exposed to asbestos in the past, you may be eligible to claim pleural thickening compensation.
Compensation For Pleural Thickening
If you have been diagnosed with pleural thickening, we may be able to help you claim compensation. For an idea of how much your claim could be worth, use our asbestos claims calculator.
The first steps in establishing whether we can help you pursue a claim for pleural thickening are:
Confirm Your Diagnosis
You may have a letter from your treating medical team which confirms your diagnosis. However, we are often contacted after an appointment and no written proof has been provided yet. This is not a problem as we can provide you with a form of consent to allow us to obtain your full medical records from your GP and any hospital you have attended. You are also entitled to request sight of your medical records confirming your diagnosis, quoting the General Data Protection Regulations of 2018. We will review your medical records in full and advise as to whether there a condition for which compensation can be claimed.
Identify Possible Defendants
For any asbestos compensation claim to be successful we need to identify a party to pay compensation. Most people have been exposed to asbestos in a work environment. Our specialist legal team will take you through your employment history and pick out the companies that exposed you to asbestos. We will request your schedule of employment from the HMRC (Inland Revenue) which will help with this. This will detail all the tax years and companies you worked for from 1961/62, when their records began. We will then discuss with you the nature of your work with each company and how you were exposed to asbestos. Our experience allows us to ask relevant questions to help build up your asbestos exposure evidence.
Once the potential defendants have been identified, we will research the companies and find out if they are still trading. If not, we will attempt to trace insurance for the period you worked for them. Any company that is active or has insurance cover will be able to be included in the claim.
Pleural thickening is what is known as a ‘divisible’ condition. This means that your claim will be apportioned between all of the companies that exposed you to asbestos. This is generally based on the length of time that you worked for them, known as a “time exposed basis”. This makes it extremely important that we trace as many companies or their insurers as possible, to secure you the maximum compensation that we can. Any periods of employment that we are unable to trace are discounted from the claim and reduce your compensation accordingly.
Once we have confirmed your diagnosis, identified at least one potential defendant together with evidence of sufficient exposure to asbestos, we can begin to pursue a claim for you on a no win, no fee basis.
Elements of a Claim
What Will Compensation be Claimed For?
There are two aspects to each claim:
General Damages
This relates to the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by your pleural thickening. As part of the claim we will ask you to attend a medical appointment with an independent respiratory consultant. They will then prepare a report detailing your condition, how it affects you and the likely prognosis. This report, alongside the Judicial College Guidelines, helps us to value this part of your claim.
Special Damages
This part of the claims relates to any financial losses you have suffered due to your pleural thickening. These losses may include:
- Loss of earnings (if you are/were still working at the time of your diagnosis and are no longer able to continue working because of your symptoms)
- Care and assistance, (if your condition has progressed to the point where you are no longer able to do some things for yourself) whether it be a privately paid nurse or care provided by a family member. This includes assistance with attending medical appointments, shopping, housework and gardening
- Adaptation costs, including stairlifts
- Travel expenses, including travel to and from medical appointments.
Steps for Compensation
Why Choose Us?
To us, you are not just another client. We are a small dedicated team that thrives on good client service. Our specialist lawyers enjoy helping people and we want to do all we can for our clients. Don’t take our word for it, read some of our clients’ reviews here.
We help people every year claim the compensation they deserve by pursuing successful, civil compensation claims. We have a proven track record of recovering high sums of compensation for our clients quickly and efficiently.
We have handled a vast number of cases involving asbestos-related diseases. This is a niche area of law and requires expertise. Whatever your circumstances, simply tell us a bit about yourself, your current diagnosis and your work history and our expert team can do the rest.