Six figure compensation settlement for widow of ex- National Service man
He began his working life at 14 as a labourer for East London company A.A. and T. Thomas.
Mr Boyce vividly recalled his role:
"When we arrived at a new job, we first had to remove old asbestos lagging from boilers. There were about 6 of us working in a boiler room at any one time. Most of the boilers I worked on were Lancaster boilers and absolutely huge. I used a hammer, chisel and my hands to remove blue asbestos lagging ……… an incredible amount of dust was released into the environment I was working in…..Once we had removed the old asbestos lagging we had to re-lag. My main job was to mix up asbestos paste….I poured asbestos powder into a large wooden tub and as I did this, dust blew all over me. The powder was greyish in colour and came in permeable hessian sacks from a company called Cape…… I added water to the asbestos powder and mixed it together with my hands and a wooden paddle until it became a white paste. It was like baking a cake…. It was a horrible environment to work in as it was always so dusty, but I did it because the money was good. I was never warned about the dangers of working with or near asbestos by A.A. and T. Thomas."
Mr Boyce went on to assist laggers for Dicks Asbestos and Insulating Co Ltd (now Dicks Eagle Insulations Limited) before moving on to Cape Plc in Barking.
Mr Boyce was diagnosed with mesothelioma 67 years later.
He made the decision to instruct Fieldfisher in December 2014 but sadly passed away on 12 January 2015 leaving his wife of 56 years, Irene and their two children. Fieldfisher was able to continue pursuing the insurers of A.A. and T. Thomas and Cape plc by acting for Mrs Boyce as the Executrix and dependant.
The insurers of A.A. & T. Thomas and Cape accepted that they had employed Mr Boyce even though Cape were not able to find any employment records. Both companies admitted liability despite the fact that over half a century had passed since Mr Boyce's exposure. Shaheen Mosquera secured a settlement of £113,500 as well as a payment of over £2000 for Saint Francis Hospice in Havering. The payment replaced the donated funds used to cover the proportion of Mr Boyce's care which was not funded by the NHS meaning that others in need of the hospice's services would be able to benefit from it.
Mrs Boyce went on to say:
"My sincere thanks for the empathy you have shown me at every turn. This was always appreciated."
Contact us
For further information about mesothelioma compensation claims, please call Shaheen Mosquera on 03304606817 or email shaheen.mosquera@fieldfisher.com.
Alternatively
- You can speak to our asbestos disease lawyers on freephone 0800 358 3848
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