Compensation in England for Canadian widow 60 years after Husband's Exposure in Scotland
James Thomson started his working life as a marine engineer in the 1940s. In this work he was exposed to substantial quantities of asbestos whilst employed by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, a Scottish Company, between 1941 and 1946, and then by Hain Steamship Company Limited between 1952 and 1953.
In the 1960s he emigrated to Canada and married his wife Elizabeth.
It was not until 2007, 60 years after this exposure, that Mr Thomson was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Sadly he died in 2008.
Elizabeth contacted lawyers in the USA and made successful claims against two US Asbestos Trusts but her lawyers referred her to Andrew Morgan for advice about claiming compensation from her husband's employers in England because Mr Thomson had worked in the UK.
Elizabeth was able to provide Andrew with copies of her husbands seaman's records books. These provided good evidence of his exact dates of employment, along with the names of his employers and details of the ships he worked on, including the MV Trellissick and MV Trevelyan. This information significantly helped Andrew in conducting a claim in England.
Andrew discovered that the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company had became part of the British Shipbuilders. That meant the company could be sued in England even though it was a Scottish company. Andrew's enquiries showed that the Hain Steamship Company Limited is now known as P & O Scottish Ferries Limited and is part of the P & O Group. As a result Andrew issued court proceedings in the Mesothelioma Fast Track of the High Court in London
Mr Thomson did not make any statement about his asbestos exposure before he died, but his seaman's records proved that he had worked for a substantial period as a marine engineer in the 1940s and 1950s.
The Court had decided in the case of Jeromson v Shell Tankers that a man in such a position in the 1950s would have been exposed to substantial quantities of asbestos. In the face of this Andrew was able to negotiate a settlement of £70,000 (in addition to the sums received from the US trusts) which Elizabeth was happy to accept.
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For further information about mesothelioma compensation claims, please call Andrew Morgan on 0330 460 6737 or email andrew.morgan@fieldfisher.com.
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