Mother contracted Mesothelioma from cleaning sons clothing
Mrs D died after contracting Mesothelioma in 2003. At the time it never occurred to the family that they could make a claim
for compensation on her behalf as she never worked with asbestos. She was never asked the question of whether she
may have been exposed at home. However one of her sons was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2015. He did not work with asbestos either, but his brother did. He was an apprentice for the London Electricity Board.
London Electricity Board was privatised in 1990 as London Electricity PLC, prior to that it was part of the UKs nationalised electricity industry and was responsible electricity generation and infrastructure maintenance in London. The brother was continually exposed to substantial quantities of asbestos throughout his apprenticeship which he would bring home on his clothing.
The 2 brothers shared a bedroom and the claim was commenced against The LEB for secondary exposure. The London Electricity Board admitted liability for allowing the brother to return home covered in asbestos dust. This was all completed within the 3 year limitation period. The family then asked our solicitors whether it was still possible to claim for their mother, given that she had died more than 10 years ago.
3 Year Limitation Period for Mesothelioma not cast in stone
In most cases a claimant has 3 years from the date of diagnosis to make a claim against the companies and their insurers.
With mesothelioma claims that can be from the date that someone died of the disease. Clearly in this case the family was
out of time. However, this period may be extended by the court if it decides that the defendants are able to show any
prejudice in investigating the claim later than they would have done if it had been presented to them within the 3 year
limitation period
Our mesothelioma solicitors were able to pursue the claim on the basis that the defendants were no more prejudiced in
investigating her mesothelioma claim than they were in investigating the claim for her son. This was in the spring of 2016.
The defendants fought the case on the basis that the time period had long expired, they also disputed that the mother's
contact with asbestos on her son's work clothes caused her to contract mesothelioma. The claim was due for trial in June 2018, but settled in Jan 2018 for 2018 for more than £50,000 and about 75% of the realistic full valuation of the claim.
Most firms of solicitors will not consider even looking at cases where the 3 limitation period has been exceeded. Our solicitors will consider any mesothelioma case on it's merits as the law in respect of limitation can be complicated. If you have a similar set of circumstances and would like some advice on whether you can still claim for mesothelioma, please call us on FreePhone 0800 923 0046, or type a question into our online chat facility.
Solicitor
Helen Childs
Lead Solicitor
Helen is our lead solicitor and a partner at Royds Withy King Solicitors. Helen is recognised as a Leading Lawyer by the Legal 500, where she is described as an exceptional partner with a huge capacity for work and an unerring willingness to fight for her clients and an excellent knowledge of asbestos litigation.. Read more >
