Mesothelioma Claim Settled In Just Over Three Months
Industrial illness solicitors from Irwin Mitchell have successfully settled a mesothelioma claim for a former British Rail employee in just three months.
Mr Brian Shay, 72, who was employed as a British Rail fitter at its locomotive works in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, between 1953 and 1993, was diagnosed with the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in April 2009.
Solicitors from Irwin Mitchell visited Mr Shay later that month to discuss a potential mesothelioma claim. During the discussions, we took a statement from him regarding the level of contact that he had with asbestos materials during the course of his employment, which included asbestos blankets used in steam locomotives, asbestos lagging around the steam locomotive smoke boxes and exhaust manifolds on diesel locomotives.
A written statement was prepared and sent to British Rail's claims handlers on 27 April 2009, just 12 days after our initial meeting with Mr Shay. British Rail accepted straight away that our client had been negligently exposed to asbestos.
A formal letter of claim was sent on 7 May 2009 and an interim payment of damages was negotiated on behalf of Mr Shay and agreed on the same date. In the meantime, our specialist asbestos claims team assisted Mr Shay to apply for industrial injuries disablement benefit and a payment under the workers' compensation scheme.
The agreed payment of interim damages was then sent to Mr Shay on 18 May 2009. Industrial injuries disablement benefit had been awarded previously and a lump sum payment under the workers' compensation scheme followed just a day later.
We then instructed a medical expert to prepare a report on the diagnosis and cause of Mr Shay's illness and his life expectancy. In addition, our solicitors also prepared a schedule of Mr Shay's financial losses on which to negotiate an overall settlement of his claim.
The medical report and schedule of financial losses were sent to British Rail on 22 June 2009 and, following successful negotiations, the mesothelioma claim was settled for a substantial sum on 28 July 2009, just over 3 months after our first contact with Mr Shay.
Back to case studies
If you would like us to provide you with advice with regard to your potential claim, please complete our brief claim form. We will reply to your enquiry within one working day.
Fill out our quick claim form
If you would like to speak to someone directly about your claim, please call our friendly team on:
0870 024 0558