From 1952-1955 Neil was employed as an engineering research and test house manager by Ferodo Ltd. in its factory at Chapel-en-le-Frith. He worked in the test house which contained large machines for testing truck brakes, car brakes and aircraft brakes.
When these brakes were stripped down, large amounts of asbestos were blown out of the brake linings with a compressed air line. No masks were provided. 50 years later N.C. contracted mesothelioma from which he died in 2006 at the age of 82.
Ferodo was part of the T&N group which had gone into administration in 2001. A compensation scheme for asbestos victim of the T&N companies was negotiated by US and UK lawyers.
The claim which Rodney Nelson-Jones brought on behalf of Neil’s estate was one of the first to be made under this scheme.
Since Ferodo was solvent, the estate was entitled to the full value of its claim. On Rodney’s advice, the executor accepted a fixed sum of £110,000 in preference to opting for the claim to be valued on an individual basis.
Rodney said:
“The scheme produced a very favourable result in this case, mainly due to the fact that Ferodo was solvent.
"It will often produce much lower compensation for victims of insolvent T&N subsidiaries such as Newalls Insulation.”