£140,000 in compensation has been awarded to a welder who contracted asbestos-related cancer due to being exposed to the fibres at work.
Ronnie Cadwallader worked for Bootle-based firm Carolina Engineering between 1950-1955 and 1957-1960. His job involved stripping off asbestos lagging on pipes and boilers, as part of maintenance and repair work.
Ronnie was diagnosed with cancer in November 2007 and up until contracting mesothelioma he was a fit and healthy man.
Carolina Enginerring was only one of the two firms who were responsible for exposing him to asbestos. However after both firms went out of business Ronnie had a 2 year fight on his hands against the cancer and trying to trace them down.
Cadwallader was finally awarded £140,000 by Carolina Engineering’s insurer Zurich, which he accepted.
Injury solicitor Kevin Johnson said: “Ronnie’s claim had not been able to proceed until we traced the insurers and if we had not submitted another ABI search then the case would probably have failed. Many asbestos sufferers and other people with serious illness and injuries go uncompensated because of the failure of insurers to ensure their records were retained.”
He added: “Given the long latency periods for many industrial diseases, (such as mesothelioma, which takes 40 years or more to come to light); this failure to trace pre-1972 policies is a compelling indictment of the Code’s failings.”
Ronnie Cadwallader said: “My case proves that the insurance scheme for trying to trace policies doesn’t work. It is totally hit and miss.”
