Time Periods To Claim Compensation For Industrial Injuries
The amount of time it will take for your solicitor to claim compensation for industrial injuries can vary greatly and will depend on a number of factors, including:
1. The expertise of the solicitor your have chosen
Industrial injury and occupational disease claims are by their very nature complex and will require a specialist experienced industrial disease solicitor to help you with your claim. If you have the correct specialist solicitor your claim can proceed as smoothly as possible.
2. When did your exposure to a harmful work environment take place?
In industrial injury claims, such as industrial deafness and lung disease (e.g. asbestosis), exposure to hazardous noise or dust could have occurred many years ago. Your former employer may no longer be in business or may have changed hands many times.
In such cases your solicitor will need to establish whether any new business has taken on the responsibility of the former business and also trace previous employer’s liability insurance companies – this can take time, especially if you have made different employers who were responsible for a hazardous work environment.
3. The evidence in existence to support your claim
An employer might accept liability for your industrial injury, but this is unusual. If legal fault is not accepted your solicitor will have to prove your claim, which can be a time consuming process especially if the equipment, workplace or factory is no longer in existence. Expert evidence from suitable engineers might be necessary after of disclosure of documents by the insurer of your former employer.
4. How serious are your injuries?
Industrial injuries can affect your health for the rest of your life and could be life threatening. The more sever the condition the longer it will take to complete the medical evidence necessary to support your claim and ensure that your receive the full amount of compensation.
So – how long should an average industrial injury claim take?
The time period for industrial injury claims will be measured in years due to the complications I have set out earlier. With a specialist solicitor I would estimate at least a year, but if your claim needs to be issued at court and resolved at trial it could take 3 years to resolve.
What should do if you have suffered an industrial injury and wish to consider a claim?
You must act as quickly as possible and speak to a industrial disease claim lawyer.
My website offers free online legal assistance including speaking to me in person – simply click how long to claim industrial injury.
