A Yorkshire firm has set up a new website to gather claims from former coal miners who believe that solicitors undersettled their original government compen­sation claims.

The site, Minerscompensationclaims.com, was launched in December by nine-partner firm Jordans. The website aims to gather previously settled claims from former miners for vibration white finger (VWF), a disease of the hands caused by vibrating mining tools, and determine whether their solicitor should have won the claimant more compensation.

Jordans launched a local advertising campaign highlighting the undersettlement issue in September last year, and has since opened case files ‘getting into the hundreds’, said partner Christine Sands, who heads a team of three lawyers working on undersettlement cases.

Text on the website reads: ‘Calling all miners suffering from Vibration White Finger? Did you receive an award under the Vibration White Finger Compensation Scheme? Did your claim include damages for services – everyday tasks such as DIY, gardening, window cleaning, decorating or car maintenance? IF NOT you may be entitled to additional damages.’
Jordans offers a ‘no win, no fee’ service for potential claimants.

Meanwhile, Paul Stott, partner at north-east firm Ingrams and co-creator of undersettlement website claimagain.com, said that enquiries to the website have led to 280 case files being opened since its launch in November last year.

The issue of undersettlement in miners’ coal health compensation claims and the concerns around levels of services damages for VWF claims were explored by the Gazette in a special investigation last year (see [2009] Gazette, 30 July, 6).

The first undersettlement website to appear, rippedoffminers.co.uk, was shut down in October by the Ministry of Justice pending proper authorisation (see [2009] Gazette, 15 October, 2). It had not reappeared online as the Gazette went to press.

The scheme required miners to undergo several tests to establish they had the condition and its severity. The level of the damages they were awarded was dependant on the “stage” of the condition they were found to be suffering from had reached.

If miners were deemed to have the condition at Stage 2SN (Neurological) or Stage 2V (Vascular) of the five possible stages, they were automatically assumed to need assistance then and in the future with various activities such as gardening work, window cleaning, DIY and decorating, car washing and maintenance. Those miners were entitled to submit a claim for services in such circumstances from the date their symptoms began until their 70th Birthday. In order to make a successful claim for the help they needed to complete a “services questionnaire” and those that provided assistance to the miners were required to complete a “helper’s questionnaire”. If upon investigation the details given in these two questionnaires were deemed to marry up by the DTI, the miner was invited to a second medical examination to support his claim. If the medical report concurred with the miner’s questionnaire damages were awarded.

The process of dealing with “services claims” took some time; often not being completed from start to finish for several years. Despite the possibility of the miner being able to receive up to 92.5% of their damages there and then and thereafter submit an application for services, many settled their claim electing not to pursue it. The last date for making such a claim under the scheme was the 31st March 2005.

Unfortunately it has emerged that many miners were given either no, inadequate or misleading advice on their ability to claim for services and this was why they did not pursue this element of their claim. As a consequence they have lost their chance to claim.

In circumstances where the advice was incorrect and miners did not recover damages for services when they would have otherwise been entitled to the same it may be possible to reclaim their damages from the solicitor who advised them. They should seek advice from an independent solicitor as soon as possible.