Law Firm Concerned about Public Confusion over Asbestos Compensation Rights
Wolferstans Solicitors has warned against public confusion over the rights to claim compensation in asbestos related disease claims.
James Walsh, Head of Industrial Disease unit, Wolferstans, comments, 'We're concerned that the publicity around the Pleural Plaques Former Claimants Payment Scheme, just announced by the new Government, might leave sufferers from other asbestos related diseases under the misconception that all they are entitled to claim is £5,000.”
'Wolferstans welcome the introduction of this new compensation scheme and believe it is a positive move forward from the previous shambles, and it's a fair figure too, provided claimants retain their right to civil compensation if their symptoms deteriorate in the future. However we think it is vital that anyone suffering from more serious symptoms ' i.e. mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis or pleural thickening - understands that court action is still possible for them.'
'Comments such as the one by Lord Henley earlier this year about Ministers not wishing to 'line the pockets of lawyers at the expense of those suffering from Pleural Plaques' are very unhelpful and misleading when the majority of these claims are run on a No Win No Fee basis. Law firms such as Wolferstans pride ourselves on working to support those in our local community at times when they are at their most vulnerable and struggling to battle - never mind understand - the complexities of the legal system.
'We are proud to have the strongest specialist industrial disease team in the South West including John Messham who has recently joined us after 34 years at Bond Pearce, and we will continue to offer our clients the best service possible'
The Pleural Plaques Former Claimants Payment Scheme offers compensation to people who started a claim/diagnosed before October 2007. Applications for compensation through it must be lodged before 1 August 2011.
Wolferstans is an APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) accredited practice and its clinical negligence team has been identified by the UK's leading guides to the profession, Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500, as experts in the field.
For more information please contact James Walsh