Looking for advice about your illness?
Many of us will go through our working lives without any incident, believing we've been kept safe from harm or long-term effects to our health. But sometimes working conditions can cause illnesses that can take months or even years to develop.
Where illnesses and diseases relating to working conditions arise, there can be serious health implications leading to life-changing situations for you and your family.
If you've recently been diagnosed with a life-changing disease or illness as a result of a previous job or a role you're still currently doing, then you're not alone. We can use our experience to help you claim compensation.
As part of our service we'll talk to you about your illness, how it occurred and how we can help you. You can contact us on 7 days a week.
How compensation can help you
We know that sometimes people wonder if the stress of claiming is worth the compensation they'll receive at the end, or even whether their settlement will make a difference to their current situation.
Your compensation may not be able to solve your health problems, but it can give you the peace of mind that the financial cost of your illness is covered by the people responsible for it. This includes covering any lost earnings you've suffered because of time off work, or any future loss of earnings if you're left unable to work.
Compensation can also help you take steps to recover as much as possible following a personal injury. For example, you could use your compensation to seek private healthcare, cover specialised treatments or cover the cost of a carer.
If you're wondering how much compensation you might receive if you were to make a claim with us, you can try our compensation calculator. Our calculator is designed to give you a guide figure on how much your settlement might be worth, based on your experience.
Examples of industrial illnesses
Suffering any injury can be painful and emotionally upsetting, but when you've been diagnosed with an illness caused by your working environment, it could have a life-changing impact.
Whether you're a hairdresser suffering with contact dermatitis, a factory worker suffering with industrial deafness or an office worker suffering with repetitive strain injury, you're likely to be in discomfort and unable to "work-through" your injury.
We have more information on some industrial illnesses, which you can access by clicking the links below - or you can contact us today on 0800 044 8711 for advice based on your experience.
We also know that some industrial illnesses manifest as breathing or respiratory problems, and in most cases are progressive, which means they can get worse over time.
We've listed below some of the types of industrial illnesses that affect your breathing and can have life-changing consequences.
Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that forms around the lungs. Often caused by breathing in asbestos and other toxic chemicals, mesothelioma can take a long time to develop but can be crippling to your health.
If you've been recently diagnosed with mesothelioma, then we can't begin to understand how you and your family must be feeling. We can use our experience to help you get the justice you deserve against an employer who risked your health in unsafe working conditions.
Read more about Mesothelioma.
Asbestosis
Asbestosis can have an enormous impact on your quality of life, simply because it can lead to progressively worse diseases.
You can read more about asbestosis here.
Industrial Asthma
You may have developed asthma because of a substance you regularly work with. Although you may think of this as an ‘occupational hazard' because your job requires you to work with fine wood dust, flour or another type of dust-irritant, all risks can be managed and in most cases avoided.
When you develop workplace asthma, continued exposure can lead to chronic asthma which has significant health implications. You don't have to deal with this alone. We can help you claim compensation for the effects this type of illness can have on your future.
Silicosis
Silicosis is a disease similar to asbestosis, where the inhalation of a fine, irritating particle can cause your immune system to attack your lungs and cause long-term health problems.
Silicosis is caused by regularly breathing in silica, a by-product of working with rock, clay, stone and sand. Silica can cause scarring to your lungs, which unfortunately causes your lungs to function at less capacity.
Diseases like silicosis can be avoided, and you should have been protected in your workplace. You can read more about your employer's responsibility to you below.
Making an illness claim
Starting your illness claim isn't as stressful as you'd think. In fact, we've worked hard to make the process of getting advice and starting your claim as straightforward as possible.
You can contact us for free on or enter your details into any of the callback forms around our website. The next step will then be talking to one of our advisors, who will listen to everything you have to say about your illness.
Generally, we advise that you have three years from the date of your accident to make a claim, but with some illnesses we know that symptoms can take a long time to become obvious. That's why you may be able to start an industrial illness claim for up to three years following your diagnosis, instead of from the date of the original accident.
Our advisors will let you know if they think you have a claim and ask your permission to transfer you to one of our experienced solicitors, who will have experience working with cases just like yours.
About our solicitors
When you call, you're under absolutely no pressure to start a claim, so you can say no to the opportunity of speaking to a specialist solicitor. If you do say no, we'll keep your data safe and we won't proceed with a compensation claim. If you agree to talk to one of our solicitors, you could be starting your journey to compensation today.
All of our solicitor firms can handle your claim on a no win no fee agreement, which means you don't need to worry about covering the cost of making a claim because your solicitor fees form part of the final settlement. If your case is unsuccessful, you won't have to pay a penny.
Information we need from you
We understand that speaking about an illness or disease can be emotional, especially if you've been recently diagnosed. We really don't want you to feel uncomfortable when you contact us for advice. Because of this, our friendly advisors will only ask you for information relevant to your claim.
So there are no surprises, we've created a list below of the types of questions our advisors may ask on your call.
- What illness do you have?
- When was it diagnosed?
- Have you been told that your illness relates to your working environment?
- If not, what makes you think there might be a connection?
- Had you been given suitable training that was relevant to your role and task?
- Have you had any medical treatment, and what was that treatment?
- Have you taken time off work? Are you still off work?
Please don't worry if you're unsure of the specifics as we're able to work with approximate dates.
Your employer's responsibility
Quite simply your employer is responsible for assessing any risk to you in your workplace and making sure there are safety processes in place to avoid any harm coming to you.
This isn't an optional duty, and in fact, the Government takes your safety very seriously, regardless of what environment you work in.
There are a number of regulations that your employer must adhere to when you work with irritable or hazardous materials such as asbestos, silica or even fine flour or wood. Examples of these regulations include the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH).
If your employer hasn't met any of the advisory or enforced guidelines in either of these documents, then it's likely they were at fault for your injury.
We don't expect you to know what's written in each of the regulations protecting you at work, but here's an idea of a couple of things your employer must do.
- They must provide you with the right training for your role
- They must provide you with the correct personal protective equipment (PPE), which in this case may be breathing apparatus or a face mask
- They must perform a risk assessment
- They must provide the right storage and disposal for hazardous material
So, if your employer hasn't done all of the above, then they haven't put your safety first and unfortunately you're now suffering the consequences. We think this is simply unfair and encourage you to contact us for free on to find out if you have a compensation claim.
For more information on illness claims
Getting in touch with us is easy. You can call us for free on .
We hope we can help you financially get back on your feet, but we appreciate that we're not medical experts and you may still have questions or concerns about your health and future.
For more information about industrial illnesses, click on any of the links below: