Mr H was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in October 2016 and sadly passed away in March 2017. Hugh James pursued the claim in the name of his wife and on behalf of his estate.
Mr H worked for Associated Electrical Ind (Woolwich) Ltd in the 1960s who were based locally. They were both a domestic and commercial cable manufacturer.
Mr H’s role was to clear and sweep work areas clean which brought him into contact with asbestos. He would sweep and clear up old lagging material from asbestos roofs, cables and asbestos fireproofing from industrial ovens.
The claim was strongly disputed and as such, court proceedings needed to be issued. As part of these proceedings, Hugh James restored the Defendant company to the Register of Companies.
The claim continued to be strongly disputed and as such reports from numerous experts were required to support the claim. This included medical evidence to support the diagnosis of Mesothelioma and to consider the effect this cruel disease had on Mr H’s life expectancy.
Unusually for a mesothelioma claim, engineering evidence was required to support the claim as breach of duty continued to be in dispute throughout the claim. The engineering evidence concluded that Mr H had been negligently exposed to asbestos.
As the trial date approached, the parties negotiated, with the Defendant eventually making an offer to settle the claim for £120,000 more than their initial offer.
The matter eventually settled in the gross sum of £170,0006 weeks prior to the listed trial in October 2020.
The Hugh James Asbestos team is running a virtual relay in support of several great charities and support groups which help people diagnosed with the asbestos related disease, mesothelioma.
These include Mesothelioma UK (as part of its #Moveformeso campaign), East of England Asbestos Patient Support Group (EEA PSG), The Mavis Nye Foundation, HASAG Asbestos Disease Support, South West Asbestos Support and Awareness Group (SWASAG) and Asbestos Awareness Support Cymru (AASC). These charities and support groups work tirelessly to support those suffering from or affected by asbestos related disease.
As part of the challenge, we are showcasing some of the different areas of the country where our asbestos team is based as well as some of our recent cases from along our virtual journey.
Follow our Asbestos team on Twitter at @hjrespiratory for all the latest updates about the #HJmesorelay.
