Archive for the ‘Asbestos Claims’ Category
Local MPs have been criticised by campaigners for voting against a bid to stop asbestos victims losing some of their compensation in legal fees.
Peers in the House of Lords have however given mesothelioma sufferers some fresh hope by insisting that patients are exempted from handling over up to 25% of any compensation to pay their solicitors.
The issue has come up as part of wide-ranging reforms of the country’s legal system.
The Government’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders’ Bill aims to save £350 million a year and speed up legal proceedings.
However, mesothelioma victims stand to lose out, under the changes planned by ministers, because of a change in who pays their solicitors.
An amendment to the Bill, one of many proposed by the House of Lords, was aimed at stopping these changes but, it was overturned in the Commons by 292 votes to 256.
Derby North Labour MP Chris Williamson voted for the amendment but Conservatives Andrew Griffiths (Burton), Jessica Lee (Erewash), Patrick McLoughlin (Derbyshire Dales), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) and Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) voted against it.
Mr Williamson said it was “completely wrong” the way some MPs had voted.
An allotment holder has been told he must dig up his plot to determine whether asbestos has been buried underneath it.
The Environment Agency (EA) is yet to discover whether the toxic substance is buried at the Coton Fields allotment site – despite the health and safety body having been informed nearly a month ago.
Last month the Post revealed how environmental bosses had been inundated with claims from ‘members of the public,’ that asbestos had been buried at Coton Field allotment.
A CREWE man who was exposed to asbestos as a 14-year-old apprentice has received a substantial sum in compensation.
Albert Greenwood, 84, worked as an apprentice fitter and turner and then as a qualified fitter at Crewe Railway Works.
He was exposed to asbestos daily but was never warned about the dangers or provided with adequate protective equipment.
The great-granddad to six was diagnosed with asbestosis in May last year after suffering from breathing difficulties.
Following his diagnosis his trade union, Unite, instructed national asbestos claims experts Thompsons Solicitors to pursue a claim for compensation.
Thompsons settled the claim out of court.
A CREWE man who was exposed to asbestos as a 14-year-old apprentice has received a substantial sum in compensation.
Albert Greenwood, 84, worked as an apprentice fitter and turner and then as a qualified fitter at Crewe Railways Works.
He was exposed to asbestos daily but was never warned about the dangers or provided with adequate protective equipment.
The great granddad to six was diagnosed with asbestosis in May 2010 after suffering from breathing difficulties.
Following his diagnosis his trade union, Unite, instructed national asbestos claims experts Thompsons Solicitors to pursue a claim for compensation.
Thompsons settled the claim out of court.
COVENTRY and Warwickshire residents who have suffered asbestos poisoning at work have just a few days left to claim compensation.
In June 2010, the Ministry of Justice launched a scheme allowing workers who had developed pleural plaques – scars on the lungs caused by asbestos – to claim £5,000.
But the application must be made by August 1.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell has represented many Coventry workers whose health has suffered because their bosses exposed them to asbestos.
Its head of asbestos disease litigation, Adrian Budgen, said the expiry of the scheme was a “devastating blow” for those with pleural plaques and urged suffers to contact the solicitor who had handled their claim as fast as possible.
He said: “When pleural plaques is diagnosed, it’s a calling card that a person has been exposed to deadly asbestos dust and that they have a small chance of developing a more serious asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma.”
Source: Coventry Telegraph
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