Robert Charman v Charles Wallis & Sons (Sacks)
Ltd and Otford Holdings Ltd
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At the age of 16 Michael Charman start worked cleaning out sacks
for Charles Wallis & Sons (Sacks) Limited in Sevenoaks.
He worked there for 3 or 4 years. Some of the sacks had
contained asbestos to which he was
exposed. As a result he later developed mesothelioma. Sadly Mr Charman died from his
disease on 20 March 1999. He had no wife or children of his
own but had previously been a very fit and active individual. This
was brought to an abrupt end by his mesothelioma.
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At some point, Charles Wallis & Sons (Sacks) Limited
became part of the Otford Group of companies. Otford Holdings
Limited was subsequently dissolved on 17 March 1998, coincidentally
about the time that Mr Charman first developed symptoms of his
mesothelioma. Local solicitors were unable
to sue the dissolved employers because they could not trace any
insurance cover.
Mr Charman’s brother, Robert, pursued the claim
after Michael's death. He instructed Andrew Morgan at Field Fisher Waterhouse. Andrew
pieced together the corporate history of the Otford Companies,
establishing that “Charles Wallis” and the “Otford” companies
shared the same address and telephone number at around the time
that Mr Charman worked there, and using statements from people
working at the factory in the 1960s to link the companies. Andrew
pursued the claim and instructed insurance archaeologists to make
enquiries. It emerged that Guardian Royal Exchange had been
the insurers for the Otford group during the period
relating to Mr Charman’s claim. Even so, AXA, who are now
responsible for GRE policies, denied that they were the insurers
for "Charles Wallis".
Andrew issued Court proceedings against the “Charles Wallis” and
“Otford” companies. When the insurers refused to file any Defence,
Andrew threatened to obtain a “default judgment” and then to
enforce that judgment against AXA. Andrew would have been able to
rely upon an insurance application document from the 1980s
that the insurance archaeologists had uncovered, and a statement
from a witness, who had joined the “Otford” company in 1966, who
had first hand knowledge of the company’s insurance affairs and of
the relationship between the “Charles Wallis” and “Otford”
companies, as well as evidence of people who worked for the company
in the 1960s and evidence in the form of trade and telephone
directories.
Faced with this prospect the insurers offered to settle for
£67,000 which Mr Charman was happy to accept.
The case was funded using a Conditional
Fee Agreement.
For further information or if you believe you have a mesothelioma and asbestos claim, please
contact
Andrew Morgan, partner on
020 7861 4036 or email andrew.morgan@ffw.com
You can discuss your mesothelioma compensation claim with any
member of our mesothelioma claims
team by calling freephone 0800 358 3848, email
personalinjury@ffw.com
or complete our short enquiry form.