We recovered
compensation for our client who developed mesothelioma because he
was exposed to asbestos by two employers.
In the 1960s George
Barwick was employed by British Insulating Callender’s Cables
(BICC) as a cable jointer’s mate. He worked at Battersea, Hackney
and Fulham power stations, carrying out work on the cables and
other equipment which was lagged with asbestos.
George could not avoid
disturbing the asbestos lagging. While he was there he worked
near others who were repairing the lagging, pipe work, plant and
other equipment in the power stations, and who also disturbed
asbestos.
From about
1972 George worked for Hackney Council. Initially he was
an electrician, but from 1974, he also did general maintenance
work. He worked on council housing building sites where
asbestos panels were cut to size. Later, he handled these
same asbestos panels when carrying out maintenance work to the
properties.
From the late
1970s George worked in the boiler houses of tower blocks
maintaining electrical equipment. This involved climbing over
the boilers, plant, equipment and pipe work which were lagged with
asbestos, inevitably disturbing the asbestos.
George would drill
through the asbestos lagging creating much dust. He also worked in
tank rooms at the top of the blocks where there was asbestos
lagging. He would have to remove this lagging when dealing
with pumps or valves, so could not avoid disturbing it.
In 2009, George was
diagnosed with mesothelioma, a lung cancer caused by exposure to
asbestos. He instructed Andrew
Morgan to make a claim on his behalf.
Andrew made a claim
against both employers. To begin with they denied liability. Andrew
began court proceedings and the court entered judgment against both
employers and set a trial date to decide the value of the
claim.
George was living in
a town house at the time and had to go up and down stairs to
from the sitting room to use the toilet or the kitchen. With his
illness, this proved increasingly difficult. He needed to move
to a bungalow in the same area to be able to get around his
house. Andrew included a claim for the cost of moving house.
Shortly before trial
George accepted a settlement of £260,000. This
compensation allowed George to move from his town house to a
bungalow as he had wished.
 |
Andrew Morgan says:
"The purpose of a claim is to put the claimant in the same
position as if the injury had not occurred, so far as money can do
this. If unusual expenses are incurred, such as the cost of moving
house, then those expenses can be recovered if they are
reasonable, however unusual they might appear. It is important to
understand the client’s circumstances and needs in full to ensure
all proper items, however unusual, are covered in the
claim."
|
For further information or if you have a mesothelioma
compensation claim, please contact
Andrew
Morgan on 020 7861 4036 or email
andrew.morgan@ffw.com