Sea King Multiple Myeloma Claims

To start your Sea King multiple myeloma claim, contact our team today. The first step will be to set up a free 30-minute consultation with one of our expert military injury lawyers. They’ll listen to what happened to you, advise you how much you could claim for, and talk you through your funding options.

There’s absolutely no obligation to go any further than this consultation. However, if you decide you’d like to pursue your claim with us, we’ll begin work by collecting evidence to support it. Evidence we can use includes:

• Your military notes
• Medical records
• Independent medical expert opinion
• Your personnel file
• Your AFCS file
• Witness statements.

The MoD will launch its own investigation into your claim, which normally begins by contacting your unit to confirm the details.

The MoD can either accept responsibility or dispute it. If they accept that they were responsible for your illness and agree with how much we intend to claim for, we’ll be able to settle your claim swiftly.

However, if they dispute responsibility or the compensation amount, we may need to initiate court proceedings. Even if trial dates are set, claims can still often be settled without going to court. But if it’s necessary for you to attend court, we’ll prepare you and make sure you’re as at ease as possible with the process.

We’ll be by your side every step of the way and, no matter how long your claim takes, we won’t rest until we’ve got you every penny of compensation you deserve.

There isn’t a set amount of compensation awarded in a Sea King cancer claim. The amount is based on the unique situations of each case. Speak to our lawyers today in a free initial consultation.

Once we know more about what happened to you, we’ll be able to advise you how much your claim could be worth. When calculating how much compensation you need, we consider your present and long-term needs, including:

• Loss of earnings
• Loss of pension
• Costs of retraining if you can’t return to your previous job
• Your pain and suffering
• Specialist care or treatment you need
• Specialist equipment you need
• Modifications you need making to your home or vehicle
• Expenses, such as private medical treatment or travel expenses for hospital visits.

Making a claim against the MoD, whether successful or not, can’t legally harm your military career.

We understand that this is a common concern for military personnel, as is the worry that any compensation they get will be taken from their unit’s budget. This isn’t the case; any money you’re awarded will be taken from a budget specially set up by the MoD.

The MoD accepts that they’re asking personnel to do a dangerous job. However, like any employer, they still have a duty of care to protect you from avoidable harm. Being exposed to harmful fumes in the line of duty working in a military aircraft constitutes as a failure in their duty of care.

We’ve helped many former military personnel claim compensation after developing multiple myeloma from working in Sea King helicopters.

Multiple myeloma is a type of bone marrow cancer. Scientists don’t fully understand its causes, but there’s a known association with exposure to benzene and related substances such as airline fuel.

Unlike many cancers, it doesn’t cause a lump or tumour but can cause a variety of symptoms, including:

• Bone pain and weak bones that break easily
• Tiredness, weakness, and shortness of breath
• Blurred vision, dizziness or headaches
• Bruising and unusual bleeding
• Kidney problems.

It can take 10-20 years after exposure for symptoms to appear. That means that you could be at risk of the disease in the future if you flew on a Sea King but haven’t yet had symptoms.

However, it's impossible to test what exactly caused the disease in any particular case, which makes claiming compensation complicated. Your length of service, number of flights, and the flight conditions could all be a factor when assessing whether you can make a compensation claim.

Sea King helicopters included asbestos around the engines, gearboxes, heating, and ventilation systems, where it was used for heat resistance or insulation. The MoD replaced all major components containing asbestos by 2006 but left components that they considered “low risk” because they weren’t routinely disassembled.

However, later investigations found that there was still asbestos in some helicopters in 2018. You may have been exposed to this asbestos if you worked on the maintenance or upkeep of Sea King helicopters between 1969 and 2018. If you’ve since developed an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, pleural thickening, or asbestosis, you could be able to claim compensation. Contact our experts for an initial consultation.

You may read that the time limit for making a personal injury compensation claim is three years after an injury happened. However, the standard time limit may not apply in these cases.

Please get in touch whenever you served and whenever you received your multiple myeloma diagnosis.