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Anyone considering making a claim for asbestosis compensation should be aware that, unlike mesothelioma, asbestosis is, in legal terms, considered a "divisible disease".
This means that the personal injury solicitor representing a claimant must trace and prove the liability of all employers responsible for exposing the claimant to asbestos.
The situation is different for mesothelioma, an "indivisible disease", where a personal injury solicitor need only prove that exposure occurred in a single workplace. There is no need for the claimant to prove that this was the exposure that was most likely to have caused the disease, only that it did indeed happen, for 100 percent compensation to be considered payable. The precedent for this principle was set in 2002 by a landmark House of Lords decision in the case of Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd.
However, as mentioned earlier, the situation is different when a claimant is seeking asbestosis compensation. In these cases, unless exposure can be traced and proven for every relevant workplace, compensation payments may be reduced accordingly.
For example, if asbestosis claimant A had three jobs where he may have been exposed to asbestos but can only trace the relevant insurance company for one of these employers, his settlement will be calculated only to a value at which the traceable insurer can be considered liable.
An industrial disease legal specialist comments, "Although it might not seem fair to sufferers of other asbestos-related diseases, the law, in recognition of the merciless mortality of mesothelioma, allows claimants with this condition to expedite their claims by making it necessary to prove liability for only one case of exposure.
"As asbestosis is considered to be a relatively manageable disease, the law places a greater burden on claimants and their legal teams to prove liability. In my opinion, what this fails to recognise is the effect the illness has on sufferers: it reduces lifespan and indicates a high likelihood of developing mesothelioma anyway. There is definitely an argument for reconciling the disparity between the legal statuses of the two illnesses."
Claim compensation for asbestosis
If you are considering making a claim for an asbestos-related illness, the time limit for making such a claim is within three years of the initial date of diagnosis.
There are several types of disease a claimant can receive damages for; these are lung cancer, pleural plaques (in Scotland), mesothelioma and asbestosis.
Here at YouClaim we specialise in offering claimants a legal service that protects them from all possible costs, fees and disbursements, from start to finish, regardless of the outcome of their claim.
We possess an excellent success rate and never take a cut from our clients' damages awards. Our personal injury lawyers are amongst the very best in the country.
To find out more about how we can help you secure asbestosis compensation or damages for another industrial illness, echat, complete an online claim form or call an advisor, on 0800 10 757 95.
