Could you claim for an asbestos-related illness or injury?
Watch the video below for expert advice from Personal Injury solicitor Jonathan Rich.
Jonathan Says...
Asbestos has been used for thousands of years, largely because it's resistant to heat and fire, but also has a big downside as well.
Inhalation of asbestos fibers can be very harmful.
Knowledge of these dangers grew from about a hundred years ago but were brought to widespread public attention by a newspaper article in 1965. Legislation followed to ban the use of asbestos. It was phased out from the 1960s onwards, though it was used up until about 2000. The complete ban was brought in in 2005.
But what does asbestos do?
When you inhale the fibers into your lungs it can cause asbestosis, mesothelioma or lung cancer. Those are the main conditions that it causes and these can cause you breathing difficulties or death.
If you have breathing difficulties, your GP may refer you to a respiratory specialist at a hospital. They may diagnose the problem by carrying out a scan to see if there is scarring on your lungs, taking a lung biopsy or a bronchoscopy. This will show whether you have asbestos fibers in your lungs.
If it's found that you do have asbestos in your lungs and you've worked with asbestos in the past, then you should seek legal advice.
We would need to look at the employers you have worked for over the years and then work out who has exposed you to asbestos during your work.
Sometimes this can be a complicated process.
Every claim is different.
Some take only 12 or 18 months to resolve. Some can take longer if they're complicated. Because of the nature of mesothelioma, the court has a special procedure so that claims can be dealt with quickly.
The amount of compensation you can get from asbestos based injury depends on how your breathing has been affected and other matters. We would look at your respiratory disability.
The amount of compensation can be anything from £50,000 or more than £250,000, and for particularly serious case up to half a million pounds or more.
It all depends on how you have been affected by exposure to asbestos.
No Win No Fee Compensation Claims
Coles Miller’s specialist personal injury solicitors handle asbestos compensation claims on a ‘no win no fee’ basis – so there is no financial risk to you.
This no win no fee system means that we take on only claims that we are confident we can win.
And in the unlikely event that your claim does not succeed, there are no legal bills for you to pay.
Get Expert Legal Advice On Industrial Disease Compensation Claims
Coles Miller personal injury solicitor Jonathan Rich has years of experience in claiming compensation on behalf of victims of industrial disease.
Before joining Coles Miller, he worked at three London law firms and then spent many years running the personal injury department at a West Country law firm.
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