Asbestosis & Mesothelioma Lawyer

Most likely, yes. If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease such as asbestosis or mesothelioma or asbestos related lung cancer, there is a very good chance that you will have a valuable claim for compensation.

Yes. If you were exposed to asbestos during your working life you have 6 months from the date of your diagnosis to lodge a claim with WorkCover Queensland. WorkCover will reject your claim if it is not lodged within this period. If you are uncertain about your rights or the date of diagnosis, we are happy to assist. If your asbestos exposure was not work related then no time limits apply whatsoever.

If your claim is with WorkCover Queensland, we have been able to get claims accepted within weeks. Our record in one matter was for a claim to be accepted and paid within 1 week. But most claims with WorkCover Queensland take 4 to 12 weeks to complete. If your exposure was not at work, court proceedings are required and we find most of these claims are able to be resolved within 3 to 9 months. For any claims that require court proceedings, our clients generally recover a contribution to costs from the Defendant in addition to the compensation payment. Because our fees are so low, this contribution can be as much as 70% of the legal costs we charge, leaving you to pay only a relatively small sum from your compensation amount.

The value of the claim depends on a few factors including your age and whether you have any dependants, however, we find most claims with WorkCover are worth between $420,000.00 to $720,000.00 clear of legal costs. If your exposure to asbestos was not in Queensland employment, and court proceedings are required against James Hardie or one of the other asbestos manufacturers or suppliers, claim values for mesothelioma vary but we often find they will attract a settlement outcome of anywhere from $400,000.00 to $5,000,000.00. Claims at the higher end of this range will usually involve a younger mesothelioma sufferer with a substantial claim for loss of wages or loss of income. We focus our advice on your likely net or ‘in hand’ figure. In discussing any proposed resolution of your claim, you will always know exactly how much you will receive from any given settlement amount after any payments have been taken care of. We are focused on providing industry leading client care, service and affordable legal fees.

The value of your claim will depend on the severity of your asbestosis condition and whether it is progressing slowly or rapidly. If your exposure was to asbestos was at work and we lodge a claim with WorkCover for you, it can take as little as a few weeks or a few months to prepare and finalise. In our experience, most claims with WorkCover for asbestosis result in a lump sum payment of anywhere between $60,000.00 to $700,000.00 clear of legal costs. If your exposure was not at work, a court claim will be required. In our experience, most court claims for asbestosis can be run and resolved within 3 to 9 months. The value of the claim depends on the age of the asbestos sufferer, the level of disability caused by the asbestosis, the medical and care needs caused by the asbestosis and if there is any claim for loss of wages or income. In our experience, most court claims for asbestosis settle anywhere between $70,000.00 to $500,000.00 clear of legal costs.

Yes. If you have been exposed to asbestos at work at any time in Queensland we can secure compensation for you through WorkCover even if that exposure occurred decades ago, and even if your former employer no longer exists.

Yes. For a claim with WorkCover, time limits do apply as discussed earlier in this FAQ section. 6 months from the date of death is the time limit, or three years in the case of court proceedings.

Yes. The impact on your health and wellbeing due to your asbestos disease can be isolated from your other medical conditions by expert medical specialists. Even if other medical conditions are present, the effects of asbestos disease can be identified and compensated.

Yes. We have regularly assisted our clients over many years who have been exposed to asbestos in other states and territories in Australia, and even overseas. Valuable compensation entitlements are available for asbestos victims in all Australian states and territories and most countries overseas.

For all claims with WorkCover Queensland, we offer our services on a ‘No win – No fee’ basis and we also charge on a fixed fee basis to give you absolute certainty and peace of mind regarding legal costs. By industry standards and from our intimate knowledge of what other firms charge for this work, we are confident that you will be happy with our commitment to client care, service and our approach to legal costs. We will explain the likely legal fees upfront and from day one. We provide industry leading transparency regarding our fee structure and fee policy.

In our experience, the likely lump sum fee for a WorkCover claim for mesothelioma will be $20,000.00 inclusive of GST and disbursements. We know that this compares very favourably with the legal fees charged by our competitors. We have seen examples of our competitors charging as much or more than $50,000.00 in these cases for the same result. No matter what happens or at what stage your case settles, the professional costs will not under any circumstances exceed 30% of the value of the claim.

Example

If your case settles for $100,000.00 clear of any and all statutory refunds and legal disbursements/expenses, we will not charge more than $30,000.00 for professional costs. Even if we had incurred say $50,000.00 worth of professional costs to achieve the settlement and to win the case, your bill for our professional costs will not exceed $30,000.00. Using the same example, if we incurred only $15,000.00 worth of professional costs to achieve the settlement, you would of course be charged $15,000.00, not $30,000.00.

We are confident you will find our fees and charges to be extremely reasonable.

Yes. We offer our services to our clients on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ basis.

At vbr Lawyers, our ‘No Win, No Fee’ policy is this:

(a) You will only ever pay legal fees for the work we do at the end of your claim and if and only if you win;

(b) We will fund and run the case for you and the legal costs will come out of your settlement monies which are paid by the insurer;

(c) In the very, very unlikely event that your claim goes to court and in the even more unlikely event that a trial is required and you lose, you would still pay us nothing but you are likely to be ordered by the court to pay the other side’s legal costs.