Pleural Thickening Compensation Claims

Pleural thickening can be disabling as your lungs can no longer expand as far as they used to. This can cause breathlessness that may be so severe you can’t carry out simple tasks.

If you’re diagnosed with pleural thickening, you could be entitled to claim state benefits. You may be unable to work due to your breathlessness and be entitled to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.

Our specialist team of pleural thickening solicitors have decades of experience in successfully securing compensation for our clients.

We understand the drastic changes in your life that come after a diagnosis of pleural thickening. That’s why we treat each compensation claim as the unique situation it is. We give tailored advice that gives you the best chance of getting the compensation you’re owed.

We’re continually praised by independent legal guides, including The Legal 500, who call us: “Superb in every way.”

We’ve a proven track record of successfully securing compensation for our clients in a wide range of asbestos-related claims. We’re ranked in the highest tier for industrial disease solicitors by independent legal guide Chambers & Partners. They call us a “… talented and very dedicated team to assist its clients in getting the best outcome from their case. They are well suited to handling complex and sophisticated matters.”

We work closely with Mesothelioma UK and are listed as recommended legal support for those seeking compensation. We’re also proud supporters of several local charities that help people with respiratory conditions, including:

• Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
• June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund.

We’ve also represented the Forum of Asbestos Support Groups in the Supreme Court.

We’ve a specialist team of Support and Rehabilitation coordinators. These trained clinicians will assess the help you need and use our connections with charities and support groups around the country to get it for you. Our nationwide connection with these organisations means we can get support that’s local for you.

We’ll always work in a way that’s best for you. Our offices are located across the UK, so you can visit us at your local branch. If you’re unable to travel, we can arrange to meet you at home or in hospital to discuss your claim. We can also communicate via telephone, email, or video call. Our team in Scotland can also advise on Pleural Plaques.

Asbestos was known to be a danger to health in larger quantities from the mid-20th century. After October 1965, it was generally understood that even small amounts of asbestos could be very harmful. There was legislation in place to protect those in the asbestos industry and those working in dusty factories right back to the 1930s.

If you’ve developed pleural thickening and believe it’s linked to your job, you could be entitled to compensation.

To begin your claim, contact us to speak to one of our specialists. We’ll advise you on whether you could make a claim and discuss the way forward. There’s no obligation to pursue your claim with us after this initial free consultation.

If you do decide to proceed, we’ll begin by gathering evidence to support your claim. We’ll use independent medical experts who can link your condition to your job.

Due to the nature of asbestos-related diseases, you’re likely to have been exposed to a harmful substance some time ago. This doesn’t mean you can’t claim, as many illnesses like mesothelioma or pleural thickening often don’t show symptoms until at least 20 years later.

We’ll use our medical experts’ evidence to determine who was at fault for your exposure. We’ll then contact the company and/or their insurer.

If your employer accepts responsibility for exposing you to asbestos, we’ll work to get you interim payments. These payments are taken from your final compensation settlement and are paid ahead of your claim being settled. Interim payments are there to help you make up for any loss of earnings and can be used to pay for health and travel expenses.

We’ll always do everything we can to keep your claim from going to court. This can help to make the process simpler and reduces the stress for you. However, if your employer doesn’t accept responsibility, or disagrees with the amount of compensation we feel you need, we’ll have to prove it. This may involve beginning court proceedings.

Even then, we may still be able to resolve the claim without needing to go to a final court hearing. We’ll always do everything we can to make the process as simple and stressless as possible for you.

You can only claim compensation for developing pleural plaques in Scotland and Northern Ireland – not in England or Wales.

In 2011, the House of Lords decided that you can’t claim compensation for plural plaques because they’re symptomless.

The Scottish Parliament reversed this decision. They allowed people to make pleural plaque claims for compensation if the asbestos exposure happened in Scotland. A similar situation exists in Northern Ireland.

Our Glasgow office can investigate your case and work out how your exposure happened and if there were ways to prevent it. You don’t have to be a current resident of Scotland to make a claim.

Even though pleural plaques have no symptoms, they do mean you were exposed to asbestos, and you may feel anxious about your future. If your exposure to asbestos was in Scotland, we can help you claim compensation for this emotional distress. Contact us today to discuss your circumstances.

Payouts for pleural thickening claims often range from £35,000 up to £100,000.

Each claim is unique, as is the amount of compensation awarded. The best way to get an idea of your claim’s value is to speak to our experts. Once we’ve learned more about what happened to you, we’ll be able to give you a better idea of how much compensation you could claim.

The amount of compensation you could claim depends on several factors, including:

• The severity of your illness
• Any loss of earnings you’ve experienced because of your illness
• The care and support you may need
• Your medical and travel expenses
• Any specialist equipment or treatment you may need
• Any modifications you might need making to your home.

Yes, most of our pleural thickening compensation claims are made using a no win no fee agreement. No win no fee claims mean there’s nothing to pay upfront and you won’t need to pay anything if your claim isn’t successful.

If your claim is successful, most of our fees will be paid by your employer’s insurer.

To make a no win no fee claim, you need to have a suitable insurance policy. We’ll discuss the finer details with you before we start working for you.

You’ll normally have three years, starting from the date you learned your illness could be linked to your job, to make a claim.

You may have less time than this if you developed pleural thickening while working outside of the UK.

If you’re claiming on behalf of a loved one who lost their life, the three-year period may start from the date of their death. If they were unaware of their diagnosis of pleural thickening in their lifetime or died within three years of being told of it, the period begins from the date they passed away.

It’s always recommended that, whatever the circumstances, you make a claim as soon as possible. This is because the details are fresher in your mind and the evidence will be easier for us to gather.

You’re at a higher risk of pleural thickening if you had an occupation that could have exposed you to asbestos. Jobs that commonly cause asbestos exposure include:

• Laggers and insulators
• Asbestos removers
• Pipe fitters
• Carpenters
• Railway engine and carriage builders
• Shipbuilders
• Plumbers
• Electricians
• Engineers
• Gas fitters
• Construction workers
• Sheet metal workers
• Textile workers
• Vehicle manufacturers.

If you had any of these jobs or similar and are diagnosed with pleural thickening, there’s a good chance it was caused by your occupation.

If you live/lived with anyone who had a job like this, you could also be at risk of pleural thickening due to them bringing dust home on their clothes.

Many people suffer asbestos-related diseases after being exposed to exposed to asbestos. Others are affected after coming into regular contact with someone who worked with asbestos.

This could be as simple as washing a spouse’s clothes after a shift on a construction site.