If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, our solicitors can help. Our expert team has over 30 years’ experience and has worked on landmark asbestos claims in the Supreme Court.
We can help you make a No Win No Fee* compensation claim, to give you peace of mind and ensure you have the right care in place. If you’ve lost a loved one to an asbestos-related disease, we can also help you make a claim on their behalf.
What Diseases Does Asbestos Cause?
Exposure to asbestos can cause a range of illnesses, including:
As the UK’s largest team of asbestos solicitors, we have experience helping people claim compensation for all of these illnesses.
Can I Make An Asbestos Compensation Claim?
If you’ve been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease in the last three years you could be able to claim. We can also help you make a claim on behalf of a loved one who has already died from an asbestos-related disease, or continue their claim if they die while it is ongoing.
If you’ve previously made a claim and your condition has since worsened, we may also be able to help.
Who Is At Risk From Asbestos Exposure?
People who have worked in industries where asbestos was heavily used are more at risk from asbestos exposure. These industries may include construction, plumbing and shipbuilding.
However, we’ve also helped people who have been exposed because of:
- Working in a building with asbestos (such as schools and hospitals)
- Secondary exposure – i.e. washing a partner’s overalls
- “Environmental” exposure (such as growing up near an asbestos factory)
Why Choose Irwin Mitchell?
We have the largest team of asbestos solicitors in the UK and we’ve won several landmark victories that have led to significant changes in the law. These include:
- The first ever successful case of environmental exposure in 1995
- The first settlement including hospice costs as well as compensation
- Securing deferred payment orders to cover future treatments, including those that hadn’t yet been developed
- We represented June Hancock in the first ever environmental asbestos case, securing her the highest ever award for an industrial disease case at the time
- We were involved in a landmark case at the Supreme Court in 2012, which meant that insurers could be held responsible for asbestos exposure that happened many years earlier
Irwin Mitchell are proud of our work with asbestos and mesothelioma charities across the UK. We work with charities like Mesothelioma UK to get the best help and support for our clients.
Mesothelioma UK are dedicated to providing free specialist information, support, care and treatment for those suffering with asbestos-related diseases. We work closely with the charity, and are listed as recommended legal support for those looking for compensation and additional support. For more information about the charity and the work they do, please visit the Mesothelioma UK website.
We have also campaigned in parliament to remove asbestos from public buildings after discovering over 4,500 public buildings still contain asbestos.
The Legal 500 said about our Asbestos solicitors "Aggressive litigators prepared to take on large insurers in asbestos litigation on behalf of individuals (usually with fatal asbestos diseases). They are prepared to hold their ground under pressure and develop new points of law."
Our workplace illness expert Ian Toft recorded a podcast with our client Ron Snaith, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2018. Hear more about how Ron was affected and the help he received in the recording below:
Are There Time Limits For Making An Asbestos Claim?
You usually have three years from the time you were diagnosed to make an asbestos claim. If a loved one has died from an asbestos-related disease, you have three years from when you found out that asbestos was the cause.
Asbestos-related diseases can take decades to develop, so it doesn’t matter how long ago the asbestos exposure took place. We can help you even if:
- Your former employer has since ceased trading
- You’re not sure when you were exposed
- You didn’t work for the company you believe is responsible
Our solicitors have extensive experience in investigating these claims and recovering compensation from those responsible.
No Win No Fee Asbestos Claims
A No Win No Fee agreement means that you don’t have to pay any upfront fees when you make an asbestos claim.* And if your claim doesn’t succeed, you won’t have to pay anything at all.
What happens if your claim does succeed depends on what type of claim you make:
- For mesothelioma claims – you keep 100% of your compensation.
- For asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer, pleural thickening, and pleural plaque claims – we don't ask you to make any contribution to your legal costs but you will need to pay the litigation insurance premium from your compensation if you win the case.
This is because in 2012, the UK government decided that mesothelioma is so serious that the normal No Win No Fee rules shouldn’t apply.
How Much Compensation Can You Claim For An Asbestos Related Disease?
How much you can claim for asbestos related disease will depend on a few different things. Your personal circumstances will be taken into account – for example, how it’s affected your quality of life – as well as the type of disease you’ve developed.
If your spouse, long-term partner or parent died from an asbestos related illness, you may be able to claim as a ‘dependent’ to account for their loss of income.
- In 1995, we represented June Hancock in the first ever environmental asbestos case. June’s case was the first of its kind. It extended a company’s duty of care to those affected by secondary exposure to asbestos, not just its employees. Adrian Budgen successfully represented June and secured £4.37m compensation for her - the highest ever award for an industrial disease or fatal injury case at the time
- We can secure hospice care costs as part of a client’s compensation settlement. We have recovered over £600,000 for hospice care since 2018.
Contact us
Call us today on 0370 1500 100 or use our online enquiry form and we’ll call you back. Your first consultation is free and there’s no obligation to continue.
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