No win no fee news
29/03/2007
Government to make asbestos compensation claim ruling
The Government is following the Scottish Executive's lead and making it easier and quicker for sufferers of asbestos-related diseases to make compensation claims.
In December 2006, the Edinburgh-based administration changed the law so that people suffering from deadly diseases such as mesothelioma would no longer have to choose between pursuing damages themselves or waiting for relatives to make compensation claims after they had passed away.
The UK Government has now announced plans to introduce a similar ruling to speed up asbestos claims, making it possible to claim an initial lump sum before a full personal injury compensation claim is then launched.
The move has been welcomed by politicians and campaigners throughout the land and Michael Clapham, MP for Barnsley West and Penistone and also a member of a parliamentary occupational safety group, told reporters, "We have been campaigning for exactly this over the years, for what John Hutton, the work and pensions secretary, has announced. We are over the moon."
John Hutton, speaking at a mesothelioma conference in London, also commented on the proposed changes and said, "We're committed to ensuring that everyone with mesothelioma can receive compensation, irrespective of their employment history.
"This legislation would mean that once diagnosed, every sufferer should receive a substantial payment within six weeks of making a claim."
People from Scotland have also welcomed the news and a campaigner from the Clydebank Asbestos Group said, "It's marvellous news, wonderful. You can't replace a loved one but those responsible should pay up."
Mesothelioma, and other asbestos-related diseases, claims thousands of lives every year and scientists have recently revealed that they expect the dangerous dust to claim at least 200,000 more lives in the years ahead.
Most likely to suffer are people who were born in the 1940s and worked in the construction industry or were employed as shipyard workers and electricians. It is not only they that are likely to suffer the debilitating effects of an asbestos-related disease, however, but also their families.
Recent compensation claims have seen wives, children and grandchildren seek damages against a family member's former employer after they too suffered. Examples include the woman who, as a child, sat on her grandfather's knee when he returned home from his work as a docker and the wife who washed her husband's asbestos-covered work clothes. Both found themselves suffering from asbestos-related diseases and so used no win, no fee personal injury solicitors to make successful compensation claims.
The new ruling should make it easier and far less stressful for sufferers of diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, emphysema and lung cancer, both in Scotland and throughout the rest of the UK, to make personal injury compensation claims.
