Personal Injury > Industrial Disease

Get justice with
industrial disease claims

Employers are duty-bound to protect you from getting or developing an industrial disease. Yet if there has been a failing somewhere down the line, we can help you claim the compensation you need to get your life back on track.

The quicker way to secure industrial disease compensation

Every year, 1.4 million people in the UK are estimated to be dealing with workplace-related illnesses. But fighting for compensation for these can often be an uphill struggle. Optimal Solicitors are here to make the whole claims process so much simpler, dedicating ourselves fully to getting what you’re entitled to.

Accidents at work are one thing, but industrial illness is quite another. There’s every chance you weren’t aware of the damage caused until it became serious, and there can be long-term repercussions. We’ll make sure to review every aspect of what happened, including your working conditions and which health and safety standards were in place.

Whether you’re an employee, contractor, or claiming on behalf of someone else, the result is the same. We’ll do our utmost to secure the compensation you deserve and in some small way help you return to a normal life.

Take your first step - secure the best legal advice

At Optimal, we pride ourselves on being a law firm that speaks like a real person. We remove the jargon, explain how we’ll work to achieve the best outcome, and tackle your industrial disease claim sensitively. Get started now.

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Our solicitors are industrial disease specialists

Employers have a duty of care towards you, so there may be grounds to make a claim if the place in which you (or a loved one) worked didn’t protect you from serious risk – or make you aware of it. This includes exposure to dangerous substances like chemicals and irritants, heavy noise levels, or physical injury from poor training or equipment.

Industrial disease can impact both your body and mind, and we’ll factor that into your claim. The mental toll of dealing with the illness, or not working as a result of it, can increase the amount of compensation awarded. We’ll also look at the financial loss you’ve experienced, proving what you had to pay for or cover in the aftermath.

Respiratory issues such as silicosis or occupational asthma. They’re often caused by flour, dust, or synthetic particles getting trapped in your lungs.
Chronic hearing loss and tinnitus – usually the result of working with machinery and having the wrong protective gear.
Chemical poisoning leading to wheezing, coughing, abdominal pain, or a more fatal disease such as lung cancer. Key threats include acid, asbestos, carbon monoxide, solvents, and pesticides.
Repetitive strain injury (RSI) such as osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and vibration white finger, caused by poor support or using pneumatic tools in cold weather.
Skin irritation from dust, fumes, and intense heat. We know exactly which protections you were meant to have on the job.

We’ve helped countless of people like you, get the best outcome

How to approach industrial diseases

There’s a lot of evidence to gather for a successful claim. Thankfully, we’ve been settling industrial disease compensation claims for over a decade. As a result, Optimal have a clear, transparent process in place to effectively collect the details and assess your circumstances.

Here’s the best way to approach industrial disease claims:

Speak to us

Tell our solicitors what happened and how it has affected you. If you aren’t sure whether a disease was caused by lax safety standards, that’s fine. The more we know about your work, practices, and day-to-day life, the closer we’ll get to the truth.

Book a medical assessment

Optimal’s in-house medical reporting team will carry out any relevant tests to determine the likely cause of the disease and how severe it is. Any findings will be used as evidence to support your case.

Investigate the cause of the disease

We’ll begin to analyse where health and safety standards may have been breached in the workplace. If necessary, we’ll speak to other members of your team – or those who worked in the same environment – for context and testimony.

Calculate what you’re entitled to

By now, we’ll have a very good idea of the claim amount we can target. Documents are prepared, organised, and checked for legal accuracy. It’s our job to make all of this understandable as we move closer to settlement.

Contact the employer, client, or insurer

With a strong, complete case, we’ll make it official and notify those who are liable to pay. If the business has ceased trading, we’ll go to the former insurers of the employer or client – no one gets off the hook.

Kick-start the industrial disease claims process

Arrange a free consultation to provide initial guidance on your case. Optimal Solicitors is ready to fight for your claim, and we’re just a call away.

Call us today

Types of industrial disease claims

Mental and physical damage

Any damage, pain, or injury will be weighed against the compensation you’re seeking, along with any mental side effects of the disease. We only use experienced medical professionals to prove the extent of your suffering.

Loss of income

It’s likely that the disease has made it difficult or impossible to work – whether at the same job or elsewhere. Your claim can factor in the loss of earnings, including extra sick pay that you were entitled to (but did not receive) while recovering.

Expenses and medical costs

Perhaps you’ve had to pay for private surgery, specialist care, a live-in carer, or home extensions to help with a disability. Optimal Solicitors will add these expenses to your claim. Meanwhile, we’ll recuperate losses for travel to and from hospital or therapy.

Why Optimal Solicitors?

We understand that the emotional cost can be just as high as any financial or medical concern. It pays to have a legal team that tackles your claim with empathy.

We’ll lay out every step of our process during our free initial consultation. Then, once we’ve identified the cause of your disease and gathered the right evidence, we move quickly to settle your case. In this way, we can often secure a payout in a few months – not years. It’s all part of our dedication to innovation, accessibility, and a people-focused approach.

We’ll save you money

There’s so much to uncover and account for – but that doesn’t mean that industrial disease claims should cost the earth. We make sure you don’t pay sky-high rates for expert legal services, and instead take on all the risk ourselves.

We make claims straightforward

Jargon, employment law, and dense medical evidence isn’t useful to you if you don’t know what it means for your case. We’re committed to making our legal advice easy to understand, so nothing will be buried in layers of legal terminology.

We stay flexible

The nature of your illness or injury may be keeping you at home or on a strict care schedule. You may prefer to chat over the phone or via email instead of meeting us in person. We'll work however you want us to.

Do I really need an industrial disease claims solicitor?

Industrial disease claims can be highly complex. They demand close attention and plenty of knowledge around the duty of care you should’ve received. It takes a lot of time, focus, and expertise to use the law and gather evidence for a solid case. You can do it on your own, but we never advise it; there’s always the chance it won’t hold up in court.

Can I claim if I’m self-employed?

Yes, you aren’t totally ruled out from an industrial disease claim if you work for yourself. However, we’ll have to prove that you were operating in a work environment that was under someone else’s control. This mostly applies to subcontractors that are on site for a substantial amount of time.

How long do I have to make a claim?

Typically, you have to make a formal claims request no more than three years after the disease began to take effect. In practice, this can be the first time you discovered something was wrong – supported by a doctor’s testimony. The three years is extended if you’re making industrial disease claims after death. In this instance, the time limit starts from the date at which the cause was found (for example, after inquest results).

Will claiming against my current employer cost me my job?

Employment laws protect you from unfair dismissal. Plus, your employer will have insurers to cover such claims – they’re the people we’ll be making a case to, not the company itself. There’s no need to worry about losing your job as we build evidence and speak to witnesses. If you think you have been unfairly dismissed, we can add it to the case.

What if I need the money soon?

We recognise that you may be paying for live-in care, expenses, or private healthcare. If you need us to, we can request interim payments – in other words, the releasing of some funds from the claim before it’s fully settled. These can cover any pressing costs and fees while we close the case.

Can I claim any benefits for my industrial disease too?

Cases like this can severely impact your quality of life, as well as mobility. You may be able to gain ongoing support through disability benefits. Optimal Solicitors can advise on what to do next and how to claim for them.

Get the compensation you need

It doesn’t matter whether you were harmed yesterday, last year or decades ago. If the illness has come to light fairly recently, we’ll get to the bottom of who’s liable for your reparation. Begin with a free consultation.