Disease Compensation Claims

At Thompsons we deal with hundreds of cases of people who have been exposed to asbestos and have suffered the harrowing consequences of an asbestos related illness. As a solicitor these cases are particularly difficult to deal with due to the impacts th...

  With each passing week we at Thompsons Solicitors hear more and more about asbestos in schools both from compensation claims, as well as general public concern about the risks regarding how widespread the problem is. Fortunately, there are camp...

  Many people think Asbestos related risks are a thing of the past and effect only labourers who worked with Asbestos when it was widely used pre-war. The reality however is very different and asbestos exposure and the risks related to this continue...

  The closure of two schools, one in Northern Ireland and the other in Wales, earlier this week due to the discovery of deadly asbestos unfortunately comes as little surprise.   As expert Scottish compensation Solicitors, Thompsons is well aw...

  I was shocked to hear of the latest tactic taken by insurance companies in dealing with claims for compensation by mesothelioma sufferers. The insurers argue that a claim is time-barred if a victim was originally diagnosed with pleural plaques, bu...

  A widow has been given leave to proceed with a personal injury action against two Scottish councils over the death of her husband from mesothelioma, despite the fact that the councils did not exist at the time he was exposed to asbestos. Mesoth...

  I was delighted to hear about the landmark Supreme Court decision which has demanded that insurers finally pay up to sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.  The court rejected a bid by insurance companies to overturn a Scottish law which giv...

  In this day and age I was angry and upset to hear that 3 cleaners working in Edinburgh had to be taken to hospital because of reactions and injuries they suffered to a chemical cleaner substance.  It has been reported that as the cleaners...

I punched a red plasticine fist in the air from the back row of the Court of Session  on Tuesday when it was announced that we have won another milestone battle against AXA Insurance & Others in relation to Pleural Plaques.   Pleural plaqu...

I was intrigued to read that Jenni Simpson paid £1 for the compensation claim of Alan Catchpole who contracted MRSA at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in 2005. Mrs Simpson is seeking compensation from Norfolk and Norwich University Hos...

  It has been reported that lawyers who represent a farm at the centre of an E. coli outbreak which occurred during the summer of 2009 have admitted liability and agreed pay to compensation to victims of the outbreak who have suffered injury and los...

  Asbestos related diseases are commonly associated with those who worked in the shipyards or who worked in industry in the last half of the 20th century.   Sadly however, I am seeing more and more cases on a daily basis of those seeking comp...

  My friends at Thompsons have been involved in the Public Inquiry investigating the deaths of the people who were affected by C-Difficile in the Vale of Leven Hospital.  Following that outbreak several measures were put into place by the gover...

  My friends at Thompsons have helped a lot of people claim compensation for injuries and losses they have sustained as a result of harmful and deadly bacteria. Thompsons Solicitors see first hand the pain, suffering and loss that harmful bacteria l...

  My friend Patrick McGuire who is a partner at Thompsons and represents the families of the 18 victims of the Vale of Leven outbreak of C-Diff has slammed Scotland’s “Dirty Dozen” hospitals for failing to meet cleanliness standard...

  I was alarmed to read the results of a recent study undertaken by the University of Edinburgh. They found that tiny particles used in a range of every day products, including shampoo and computers, effects the lungs in harmful ways. The researcher...

  Asbestos related diseases and conditions cause thousands of people to suffer injuries and symptoms every year. A lot of people who pursue compensation claims for asbestos related diseases and conditions were exposed to asbestos fibres in the workp...

  I was sad to see that despite the government advising us that hospital acquired infections are decreasing, a ward at a Glasgow hospital closed earlier this week, as a result of an outbreak of C-Difficile. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed...

  I turned even redder today when I heard the news today that John Lewis plead guilty to breaching the asbestos regulations only one year ago.   Despite numerous campaigns to highlight the dangers of asbestos in the workplace, John Lewis allo...

I never cease to be amazed by the lengths to which insurance companies will go to avoid paying compensation, particularly to victims of asbestos exposure, many of whom are terminally ill with deadly cancers like mesothelioma. A consortium of insurance...

Some people have jobs where the risk of having an accident or contracting an industrial disease are minimal, however there are other jobs that are more susceptible to accidents and industrial disease and employers and employees should be made aware of the...

  Former shipyard workers from Inverclyde who were recklessly and knowingly exposed to asbestos will be among the beneficiaries of a recent highly significant judgment in the Court of Session. Lord Emslie rejected a bid by major insurance comp...

  It’s good to see that the Department of Work and Pensions has decided to help victims of asbestos exposure trace the insurers of their former employers, the vast majority of whom have long since ceased to exist. These diseases, a miser...

I was amazed that it was this week revealed that the UK Government have cited the views of an ‘expert’ who has never met a victim of asbestos related disease, as a reason for delaying their decision on whether pleural plaques sufferers are due compensation in England.

Thanks to a successful campaign by Thompsons, together with trade unions and asbestos charities, the Damages (Asbestos Related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009 was passed.  This change in the law meant that victims of pleural plaques in Scotland can pursue compensation for their condition provided they contracted their disease while working for a Scottish company.

I am sad to say that if you live down south the same rights do not exist.

The document relied on, Professor Robert Maynard’s report ‘Medical Aspects of Pleural Plaques’ to support the English point of view has been revealed to be “at best dubious” given that Professor Maynard has no experience in the field of Pleural Plaques!

Jane Howie of the Bradford Asbestos Victim Support Group commented:

“It happens time and time again that professors pretend to know what they are talking about and end up defending the indefensible”

The rights of asbestos victims to compensation is an area I feel very strongly about and I hope our campaigning friends down south get the right result soon.