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Written on 26th March 2020

Laura Magson, head of the Boyes Turner asbestos and mesothelioma team, acted for Darren who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2018. He had six cycles of chemotherapy and was doing very well. He contacted us six months after his treatment had finished to investigate a potential claim.

Asbestos Exposure

Darren's asbestos exposure was fairly recent. He believed he was employed by Millar Chemicals Limited and subsequently Reading Green & Marvell Limited (both of Loverock Road, Reading) between or around the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. Indeed, Reading Green and Marvell Limited appeared on Darren's employment history from HM Revenue & Customs - document which lists a person's employment history from 1961 onwards.

Reading Green & Marvell Limited was a chemical factory that made paint pigments. The information at Companies House on Reading Green & Marvell was sparse, the company, having been dissolved more than 20 years ago. After further investigation, we discovered that the company had changed its name to Factor Strike Services Limited and that it was dissolved in 1993. We managed to obtain a copy of the London Gazette in October 1993 which contained information that allowed us to set about restoring the company to the Companies Register.

He was employed as a labourer and was involved in the mixing of chemicals. He used to burn chrome pigments that turned green (hence the name of the company) mixing chemicals in a huge vat and emptying them into containers which held galloons of fluid. He worked closely with furnaces, at least one of which he alleged was lined with asbestos sheets. There was sliding doors which slammed shut and released asbestos dust into the atmosphere. He also raked the chemicals, hitting the side of the furnace which were covered in the old asbestos. He also recalled doing a repair to a pipe that was lagged with asbestos in addition to dismantling a Fulton boiler which contained asbestos lagging.

Insurers of Reading Green & Marvell Limited

As Reading Green & Marvell Limited were subsequently dissolved, we traced the Employers' liability insurers for the company and notified the claim to them. The insurers did not admit liability so we obtained a supporting Statement from one of Darren's former colleagues. The defendants instructed an engineer to advise on the level of exposure that Darren sustained and whether it was significant enough to amount to a breach of duty on Reading Green & Marvell's part. We also instructed an engineer to report on the same.

Immunotherapy

As Darren was young, fit and well and had no disease progression since the chemotherapy, his medical report said that he may be a suitable candidate for immunotherapy. It was really important to Darren to have the security of knowing that any future immunotherapy costs would be funded by the defendants. Immunotherapy is currently a treatment that is not available on the NHS. We offered £350,000 after negotiations, the insurers for Reading Green & Marvell Limited offered £250,000 gross together with an indemnity to fund any future immunotherapy costs that Darren might embark upon. Darren accepted this offer because it was really important of him to have the security of knowing that any future treatment costs that are not available on the NHS would be covered by the defendants if this is a suitable form of treatment for him.

Darren received his compensation within 10 months of first contacting us. The case has been issued at the High Court in order to protect Darren's future position with regards to any future treatment. We were delighted to represent Darren in his claim for mesothelioma and he was delighted with the result.