Settlement obtained for family of Norfolk mesothelioma sufferer

Posted 13/10/2015

Richard Foyster, who heads the Personal Injury team at Ashtons Legal and specialises in asbestos-related disease claims, has recently obtained almost £180,000 from insurers for a Norfolk family. Mr T was exposed to asbestos dust over a period of several years in the 1960s while working in the poultry industry and contracted mesothelioma. He sadly died before his claim was settled, with the chicken farm’s insurers initially unwilling to admit liability.

Richard comments: “As is all too often the case with mesothelioma claims, the success of this claim relied on obtaining witness statements from former colleagues of Mr T, who still had a vivid memory of the asbestos exposure in spite of it occurring several decades ago. It is always so tragic to deal with mesothelioma cases, particularly given that the risks caused by asbestos exposure were often known many decades before some employers took action to protect their staff from its dangers. The Health and Safety Executive is currently estimating that number of men dying from mesothelioma will peak in the UK over the next couple of years and will then begin to reduce, and the peak for women may come slightly later.”