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Valuation of Mesothelioma Claims

This article should only be read as a brief outline of typical losses which can be found in mesothelioma claims and the way the damages will be assessed.  Each case will be fact specific and particular advice will be required from your Solicitor on the facts of your case.  For example if the sufferer has a business then there may be issues about valuing the business and the future profitability of the business which again will have an impact on how the claim is valued.

General Damages

The Court will make an award for the Claimant’s pain and suffering.  The Court will assess the duration of the pain and suffering, giving consideration to the particular circumstances of the Claimant.  In general the longer the period of pain and suffering and the more surgical interventions the suffered has undergone the greater the award for damages the Court make.  The general bracket for general damages for pain and suffering is £60,000.00 to £70,000.00 but the award could be above this in an exceptional case. 

Financial Loss

This will differ in value depending upon whether the sufferer is making the claim during his lifetime or the claim is being made by his estate and dependants following his death.  If the claim is being made during the sufferer's lifetime there will be an award for what is called the “lost years claim.”  The Court will award the Claimant an award in respect of the disposable income which he would have earned during his lifetime, but which he will not now earn.  They do not take into account the amounts that the Claimant would have had to pay to subsist, for example having to pay the rent, mortgage, food etc.  As a general rule the Court will apply a 50% discount to the Claimant’s earnings (whether salary or pension) to reflect what the Claimant would have had to expend to subsist.  The balance of the 50% of his income will represent the yearly sum for the lost years claim, and the Court then assesses the life expectancy of the Claimant and multiplies that by the yearly sum to arrive at the loss.

If the claim is being pursued by the estate or the dependants following death the claim is brought under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 which provides that dependants may bring a claim.  The Act allows someone who is in fact financially dependent on the deceased to bring the claim, and therefore would normally cover a claim by a spouse or child under the age of 18, or 21 and in full time education.  Strictly speaking the Court will assess the level of the dependency upon the deceased when making the award, but again the Court has adopted conventional principles when assessing the loss, and in the case of a deceased mesothelioma sufferer leaving behind a spouse the Court normally takes 66% of the joint income less the surviving spouse’s income when arriving at the annual loss.  The Court will again assess the life expectancy and multiply the annual loss by this to arrive at the total loss.

 

Care Aids and Equipment

This is another head of loss which figures prominently in mesothelioma claims.  The sufferer will become ill and progressively more debilitated as the condition takes hold.  They will require care and assistance either from family members or occasionally from private carers.  All of this can be claimed for.  Generally the time spent by family members looking after and caring for a sufferer can be claimed at an hourly rate, normally somewhere between £6.00 and £7.50, which is a commercial rate discounted to reflect that the care is being provided gratuitously by the family.  To the hourly rate the Court will try and assess how many hours have been spent by the family member and/or private carer looking after the sufferer and this will form the basis of the claim.

As the sufferer’s condition deteriorates more care will be required so that in the final three months of the sufferer's life significant amounts of care will be claimed.  Usually 8 or so hours a day for the second and third months before death is claimed and in the final month of life around the clock care, 24 hours a day.

In addition aids and equipment can be claimed, for example stair lifts or bed mattresses or other items purchased to make the sufferer’s life more comfortable.

Services Dependency 

Many mesothelioma sufferers are men who have worked in manual labour for most of their lives and they tend to be very able with manual jobs.  It usually is the case that they have done many of the do-it-yourself jobs around the house including painting and decorating and small engineering/electrical works.  The wife will often be left in a situation where she will now be required to pay for these services in the future.  This can all be claimed for as part of the claim. 

In addition if the deceased was used to doing the gardening, again this can form part of the claim.

Statutory Bereavement Award

Where the claim is being pursued following death then there is a statutory bereavement award which is paid to a spouse or partner of the deceased.  This award is £11,800.00.

Funeral Expenses

Where the claim is being pursued following the death, funeral expenses can be claimed as part of the claim.

Travel Expenses

All travel expenses to and from the Hospital and medical appointments can be claimed as part of the claim.

Miscellaneous Expenses

Claims can be brought for additional heating expenses.  Usually we find that the sufferers have to spend most of the day in the house and they tend to feel the cold more so that they have the heating on for more of the time.  For which this can also be claimed.

Other heads of claim may include dietary supplements purchased to aid the sufferer’s dietary requirements or other heads of loss particular to the case.