Ex miners urged to claim compensation
Former miners from Flintshire who have developed health problems as a result of a lifetime of working in the pits have been told that they could be missing out on part of their compensation claims, according to a new report.
Nearly 1,000 claims for chest diseases and Vibration White Finger, a condition caused by working with heavy machinery over a prolonged period, have been upheld in Delyn, the home of the former Point of Ayr pit. Miners across the UK have so far shared in a payout of around £3.5million from the Coal Health Compensation Scheme. But it was disclosed in 2005 that some lawyers acting for the men had taken a cut of the compensation awards. The average amount incorrectly taken in additional lawyers’ fees was £908, but very few miners actually realise that they are entitled to this money back. A total of 686 claims for chest diseases and 261 for Vibration White Finger were approved in the area, but to date only one person has lodged a complaint with the Legal Complaints Service about reduced compensation payouts.
A local representative for the families has claimed that nearly 200 families have lost out on money due to them. Because people were not complaining about the situation, law firms were not making the repayments they should have been and that ex-miners were missing out on cash that was legally theirs. Miners who think they may have been short-changed in their compensation claims have been urged to seek advice from their union or from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
This situation has sullied the otherwise good reputation of most claims solicitors. It should not be down to the families of victims to have to firstly make sure they’ve been paid their full compensation entitlement and secondly, chase their legal representatives for money that has been wrongfully deducted from the compensation payments. The legal profession has never had the greatest of reputations in the eyes of the public, and this salubrious behaviour by some solicitors will do the cause no good whatsoever. There has already been a great deal of attention focused by the media on the outrageous charges employed by some solicitors, and further evidence of shady dealings, whether genuinely innocent mistakes or a hard-hearted attempt to extract more money from victims, is not going to help matters. If the underpayments are genuine mistakes, then there should be an immediate apology from the solicitors concerned and a full reimbursement of the money owing to the victims.
If it is a deliberate attempt to ‘cream off’ a little bit of extra cash in the form of mischarged fees, then perhaps it is a matter for the legal profession’s governing body to investigate. Either way, it should not be down to the individual victim to chase payment - they have placed their trust in the legal profession to ensure that they get the compensation they deserve. If it emerges that those same legal experts are short-changing their clients, it is another blow to the reputation of the compensation claims business and the legal profession in particular.
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