If you have a been injured or your health has been effected at work you are eligible for compensation. This is called industrial disease by people in the legal profession. It can cover injuries and illnesses such as hearing loss, repetitive strain injury, back injury, breathing problems, asbestosis, occupational dermatitis and asthma.
How do you choose an industrial disease solicitor or claims management company to help you with this?
You are trusting someone with bringing you justice and you need to be sure that firstly they are a member of an accredited panel. They will have a certificate to verify this showing that they have been accepted due to passing the boards requirements. The lawyer or claims management company will show this on their website so you should check this before giving a company any of your details. If you can’t find one, ask for one before you consider using a company.
You will find that some companies will specialise in particular fields and others will cover every area of law. You will get a more personal and well informed service from someone who specialises in workers compensation. Being experts in a field will mean they will be able to win you the maximum amount of compensation due to their expertise.
There is a difference between a lawyer/solicitor and a claims management company. The lawyer is who actually processes your claim and the CMC will usually be who you would contact first. They act as a liaison between the claimant and the lawyer. In general the claims management company will have a panel of solicitors allowing them to choose the right one for your individual claim.
If you have a case for a claim you can process it on a No Win No Fee or Contingent Fee (America) basis. This will ensure you won’t have to pay any fees even if you loose the case. As you can claim in this manner there is no risk to you at all. When looking who to claim with make sure they offer you a No Win No Fee service. Solicitors take out insurance policies to protect themselves if they don’t win your case. This allows them to offer a No Win No Fee basis and if you don’t win they claim their fee from the defendant. (No Win No Fee isn’t available in Scotland)
If you are worried that you may have to go to court, you need not to be. The vast majority of Industrial Disease or personal injury claims are settled out of court as there will be proof of liability. For example you may suffer from Industrial Deafness and an audiogram will show that your issue could only be noise induced and thus caused by work. The money you may receive could vary depending on a lot of factors including the type of claim, length of exposure and the damage that has been done to your health.
I hope this has helped you in choosing who to make your claim with and Good luck.
