A Yorkshire legal firm has hit the headlines this week by suggesting former miners may have missed out on thousands of pounds of Vibration White Finger (VWF) personal injury compensation pay outs.
Yorkshire solicitor firm, Jordans Solicitors, has highlighted miners’ Vibration White Finger claims as a potential area for a claims bonanza because many miners may have accepted substandard previous pay outs from the Government.
Now they are asking former miners and their families and dependents to contact them. Millions of pounds have been paid out to miners as a result of a far reaching industrial personal injury compensation scheme – including payments for victims of the industrial disease Vibration White Finger.
Jordans say workers involved in the Vibration White Finger section of the scheme could have missed out during previous early settlements. Many miners were awarded compensation following contracting Vibration White Finger, an affliction caused by vibrating machinery such as chain saws, mills, hammers and drills.
In the last ten years, many miners claimed damages for Vibration White Finger, says Jordans, an illness which is thought to arise due to damage from blood vessels and nerves in the fingers due to vibrating machinery, causing fingers to turn white and numb. Pins and needles and throbbing pains are other symptoms. The condition can be excruciating and debilitating and is brought on often during cold weather.
Jordan reports on its website that the Department of Trade and Industry set up a Handling Agreement in 1999 under which miners could claim damages for VWF which was found to have been caused as a consequence of using vibrating tools in the mines.
This agreement required miners to undergo tests to establish they had Vibration White Finger and its level of severity. The level of the damages awarded was dependant on the stage the condition had reached.
It has now emerged that many miners were allowed to settle their claim without making an additional claim for services, says Jordans, services being the miners’ ability in relation to their symptoms to carry out household tasks such as gardening, car and window cleaning and the like.
Successful claims for services have often led to more than £10,000 in personal injury compensation settlements; and so miners suffering from stage 2V or above were entitled to submit this claim automatically.
In some cases Jordans are concerned no or inadequate advice on their ability to claim for services was given and as a consequence they lost out – the last date for making such claims was March 31 2005.
It could be that those miners are now able to reclaim their losses and they are now being advised to seek advice from personal injury compensation specialists with expertise in this field. Jordans Solicitors are a Yorkshire legal firm with offices in Dewsbury, Wakefield and Castleford.
Jordans have also launched a dedicated website: minerscompensationclaims.com, assisting miners with info on how to reclaim losses on previous industrial injury compensation claims.
Last 5 posts by admin
- Oil and Gas Industry Warned Over Injury Record - August 25th, 2010
- US Legal Firm Criticises BP Compensation Package - August 23rd, 2010
- Miners Fighting For Vibration White Finger Compensation - August 20th, 2010
- Drink Driving Deaths Falling In UK - August 16th, 2010
- Major Injury Compensation Payout For Haulage Worker - August 12th, 2010
