Mesothelioma settlement for plumber's family after post-mortem found to be flawed

Shaheen Mosquera secured a significant settlement for the grieving family of Brian*, who died from mesothelioma contracted while working as a plumber's mate in the 1960s.

Brian was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died at the age of 73. As a young man he had been exposed to asbestos dust and fibres when removing old boilers lagged with asbestos rope and installing new boilers, often Rayburn and Parkray fuel boilers which were common at that time.

He would install around three boilers a week and over the course of his employment fitted hundreds of these boilers. Each installation involved emptying raw asbestos into a bucket before mixing it into a paste, with four or five buckets of paste required for each installation.

Brian would often work on council and ex-council properties and undertook plumbing work on several new housing estates in Basildon where he installed boilers with cement flue pipe and was exposed to asbestos almost daily, always without any respiratory equipment. 

After his death his family instructed Shaheen to pursue a claim, which was complicated as there was a dispute over the cause of Brian's death and difficulty in identifying the sole trader Defendant. 

A post-mortem concluded that Brian died from natural causes rather than mesothelioma. Shaheen obtained the lung tissue samples and instructed a consultant histopathologist who disagreed with the conclusion of the post-mortem and supported a diagnosis of mesothelioma. 

A second opinion was obtained from a consultant chest physician who agreed with this and concluded that the autopsy performed was flawed and that the post-mortem report contained inconsistences. The claim was able to proceed based on this evidence. 

As Brian was exposed to asbestos while working for an individual rather than an incorporated company, extensive investigative work was undertaken to identify the individual and any insurance policies, which included trawling the electoral roll database, government probate register and the Land Registry.  

Remarkably, Shaheen was able to trace insurance held for the period of Brian's employment and brought a claim against the estate of his employer with any damages to be paid by the insurer. This was a challenge as the family were hesitant to pursue the estate of Brian's employer. 

Despite the initial difficulty of the claim in respect of Brian's diagnosis and employer, Shaheen was able to bring a successful claim for Brian's family. 

Shaheen said: "This was an unusual case because it was against a sole trader rather than a company. It was surprising that employer's liability insurance existed because Brian's employment was prior to the need for compulsory employer's liability insurance which was introduced in 1972."

* name changed

Contact us

For further information about mesothelioma compensation claims, please call Shaheen Mosquera on 0330 460 6817 or email shaheen.mosquera@fieldfisher.com.
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