Boyes Turner recently acted for a gentleman named Tom* who was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer. Tom developed a cough in May 2025 which progressed to severe chest pains, and he was rushed into hospital. He had fluid in his lung which was drained, and a CT guided biopsy was performed. In September 2025, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma and unfortunately, it was progressive. After a brave battle with the disease, Tom passed away a couple of months later, so we acted for his wife, Barbara*, on his behalf. How occupational asbestos exposure caused Tom’s illness Tom was exposed to asbestos whilst working as a builder in the early 1960’s. As a young man starting out in his building career he worked across a variety of disciplines learning the trade, and therefore his role encompassed a variety of different elements. On one specific job, part of a maintenance contract, he had to scrape off existing tiles which contained asbestos with a blade and a long handle, so that they could be replaced. It was incredibly dusty work and alongside his colleagues he removed tiling from floors which were around 100 feet long. After removing the tiles, he then swept up all the dust so that the fitters could replace the new tiles and shovelled the rubble into wheelbarrows. As part of this job, he also replaced broken asbestos sheet from the roofs. This involved undoing the bolts and removing the sheets which would often break meaning that the dust flew up into the air. He would then cut new asbestos sheets to size using a hacksaw before refitting it by drilling holes into them. Once the process was completed, he would again have to clear up all the dust. He was also working closely with other tradesman who were cutting up ceiling tiles which contained asbestos which meant Tom could not escape the dust. He was responsible for ensuring the area was tidy so he would sweep up after them as they went along. Tom also worked in private dwellings. He did repair work on water tanks which had poorly maintained asbestos lagging on the pipework. When he was carrying out his work, the lagging would often crumble creating dust. Tom also worked alongside plasterers who were using Artex which contained asbestos at the time, as well as carpenters who were cutting Asbestolux sheets for fireproofing. He was therefore exposed to the dust throughout his work in these dwellings both directly and indirectly. What happens if a former employer no longer exists? Melloney Harbutt, Legal Director in the Asbestos team, went to visit Tom at home to obtain his lifetime statement and undertook extensive research to locate the insurers of Tom’s former employer which had exposed him to asbestos. However, the company was dissolved and the insurers for the period of Tom’s employment could not be found so it was not possible to bring a civil claim against them. Claiming through the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (DMPS) Melloney therefore submitted a Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (“DMPS”) application for Tom using the lifetime evidence she obtained. The Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme is a scheme which was put in place to compensate mesothelioma sufferers who were negligently exposed to asbestos by a former employer which is no longer trading and was not insured at the time of the exposure. Successful outcome for our client’s family The application was successful thanks to Tom’s clear lifetime evidence of asbestos exposure, which shows how vital it is to capture lifetime evidence where possible in a mesothelioma claim. As a result of the successful application, Tom’s widow, Barbara, received a significant award as recognition of the fact that Tom was negligently exposed to asbestos throughout the course of his employment, even though his employer’s insurers could not be located. *Names have been anonymised. For more information about how the mesothelioma and asbestos disease claims team can help you or your loved ones after a diagnosis of an asbestos related disease, please contact the team by email on asbestos@boyesturner.com or by telephone on 0118 952 7199.
