Admission of liability within one month for school pipe lagger

Adam left school at 15 to begin an apprenticeship at Goodall, Barnard and Clayton Ltd, a large local building firm, contracted to work on SCOLA schools in the Basingstoke area.

Adam recalled he was initially tasked with the least popular jobs such as pipe lagging. Adam and his fellow apprentices would be given sacks of raw asbestos fibres which they added to a cement mixer with water to create a  paste. He would then apply the mixture by hand to the pipes and boilers in the school boiler houses. He remembers being covered in dust from head to toe by the end of the working day. He also helped secure Asbestolux sheets to the inside of the boiler house door. The sheets, produced by the infamous Cape Asbestos Company, came in 8ft by 4ft sizes and he would use a hacksaw to cut them He recalls doing this job at least once a week throughout his apprenticeship.

Adam was also exposed to asbestos later working as a plumber, cutting asbestos flue pipes to fit on boilers in residential homes. Despite the dangers, no safety measures were provided by his employer,  not unusual at the time.

Adam was 76 years old when he died. He had always enjoyed a largely clean bill of health. In December 2024, he complained to his family about feeling breathless and had lost weight rapidly. After numerous visits to his GP and local hospital and months of various tests including a pleural biopsy, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in May 2025. Adam received palliative care to ease his pain as he was deemed too weak to withstand immunotherapy or chemotherapy.

Natalie was assigned the claim and immediately visited Adam at St Michael's Hospice to take a detailed witness statement just days before his passing.

At first glance, there appeared to be no employer's liability insurance policies for any of Adam's previous employers. Submitting numerous extended requests to the Employers Liability Tracing Office, Natalie eventually located a policy for Goodall, Barnard and Clayton. She promptly sent a detailed letter of claim to the insurers and instructed an independent respiratory consultant to provide a medical report firstly confirming Adam's diagnosis and then that his work as an apprentice greatly increased his risk of developing mesothelioma.

Liability was swiftly admitted and Natalie is in the process of arranging for a £50,000 interim payment for Adam's widow. The claim will likely conclude before the end of the year.

Contact us

For further information about mesothelioma compensation claims, please call call Natalie Amara on 03304607113 or email natalie.amara@fieldfisher.com.

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