WORKSOP MINERS' WELFARE EVENT CONSIDERED HUGE SUCCESS
Article courtesy of Worksop Guardian
Over 250 people packed into the public meeting at Worksop Miners’ Welfare on Wednesday to learn if they were ill advised when making their original claim. They had the chance to chat to legal experts and seek advice from Bassetlaw MP John Mann, who is spearheading the campaign. Mr Mann said tens of thousands of families were wrongly advised and they need “all the help they can
get” to claim back their money. “It’s a big operation, and I expect there will be many hundreds entitled to money just in the Bassetlaw area,” he said. “I can’t say too much at this stage but yesterday I had a meeting with the Serious Fraud office over some of these claims, and I left with a big smile on my face.”
Mr Mann has teamed up with Neil Hudgell and Ingrams solicitors - jointly known as Claim Again - in a quest to get miners and their families a better deal. The Government set up two schemes to compensate miners who contracted pulmonary disease (COPD) and vibration white finger (VWF) as a result of their mining work. But many were poorly or wrongly advised - meaning they could still be entitled to up to thousands of pounds of compensation.
Pat Estabrook of Legal Complaints Services said miners had nothing to lose by asking for their case to be reviewed and that even relatives of deceased workers could claim. “Many people had deductions made from their claims that were never paid back,” she said. “We have a team of 16 people who have been doing this job for five years and we are very experienced in dealing with the issue.”
Stephen Pollard, 52, worked at Harworth pit for 13 years and said he thought the meeting was “reassuring” for many miners and their families. “I have vibration white finger, in both hands which affects many everyday tasks. Sometimes it’s really hard to pick things up,” he said. “I got £20,000 compensation back in 2000, but want to find out if I am entitled to money for everyday services I can’t do as a result.” “This meeting is a great opportunity to find out more, as many people don’t really know the ins and outs of the legal system and are too scared to ask.”
Susan Kelk, 83, of Worksop, hopes she can find justice for her husband, who died over six years ago from COPD. “He was told he wasn’t entitled to money as he worked on the pit top. But he really suffered at the end of his life, and it was too much for me and my daughter to care for him.” Said Mr Mann: “It was a good meeting and a lot of work as come on the back of it. The solicitors will look at everyone’s papers and recalculate it for them, so I’d encourage everyone to apply,” he said.
Images from the event...
