Asbestos
Asbestos Disease Compensation Claims UK
Compensations for UK asbestos disease are running into the many billions of pounds. If you have or suspect you have an asbestos related illness speak to a legal expert now and ensure you receive the maximum compensation you deserve.
Asbestosis, Mesothelioma Compensation Claims
Asbestos is the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, causing lung cancer and other fatal and near fatal diseases. The stress and trauma related to asbestos disease can cause not only physical and psychological damage but financial distress due to loss of earnings. The legal protections for employees working with or those who have worked with asbestos are among the most stringent within the personal injury compensation field.
There are many specialist legal practitioners with expertise in the field of asbestos related personal injury claims who can help you receive the compensation you are entitled to. Because of the severe nature of asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, pleural thickening, pleural scarring and mesothelioma and the strict legal protection in place, compensation claims can often be dealt with quickly.
Legal Protection For Working With Asbestos
Due to the severe dangers of asbestos there are stringent legal protections in place. Asbestos Regulations, in 1969, set out the first quantitative limits in the UK for asbestos dust exposure. The Control of Asbestos Regulations in 2006 came into force to bring together three previous sets of regulations covering the prohibition of asbestos, the control of asbestos at work and asbestos licensing.
Asbestos, The Ongoing Situation
One in 17 carpenters born in the 1940s will die of mesothelioma – a cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos, according to research, distributed by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Despite a sharp decline in asbestos use in the UK, claims are still coming forward, and according to the research, will yield between £8 billion and £20 billion in the UK in coming years.
Asbestos related diseases take approximately 30 to 40 years to manifest themselves, but as the material was still in use in the UK in the 60s and 70s claims numbers are still to reach their peak.
According to the HSE, asbestos related deaths will peak at 1,950-2,450 a year between 2011 and 2015.
Making the situation more difficult for claimants is the fact employer liability insurance was only made compulsory in 1972.
Any claims relating to firms before that date may not be covered, or may involve firms which are no longer in existence.
However, if you or your solicitor cannot find the company do not worry there is a government compensation scheme so many claims will end up being paid by the government.
About Asbestos – Personal Injury Facts
The dangerous effects of working with or coming into contact with asbestos cannot be underestimated.
Asbestos imports began in the UK in the 1880s, mainly for the textile industry.
In the early 20th Century asbestos was considered an ideal building material. It was cheap, flexible and fire retardant, with electrical resistivity.
Unbeknown at the time problems with asbestos occurred when its fibres became airborne and inhaled. Because of the size of the fibres, the lungs struggle to expel them and because they are sharp they can penetrate tissues.
Breathing in high levels of asbestos fibres can seriously increase your chances of getting an asbestos-related disease.
The serious diseases which result are responsible for around 4000 deaths a year.
There are four main diseases caused by asbestos:
Mesothelioma – fatal
Lung Cancer – almost always fatal
Asbestosis – not always fatal but can be severely debilitating
Diffuse Pleural Thickening – not fatal
Whatever your personal situation is, if you have come in contact with asbestos or suspect you have come into contact with asbestos, it is never too late to speak to a personal injury specialist and make a claim.
