Court win for ex-miner ‘could help thousands’

Andrew Procter, 53, from East Ardsley, near Leeds, won more than £5,000 from his former solicitors after they were found to have given him inadequate advice, meaning he missed out on a chance for compensation at an earlier hearing.

He is the second Yorkshire miner this year to win a professional negligence claim against Barnsley-based Raleys Solicitors, who have represented more than 12,000 sufferers of ‘vibration white finger’.

The condition suffered by Mr Procter and many miners, caused by prolonged use of vibrating tools over many years, effects the hand, wrist, and arm and can lead to permanent disfigurement.

Despite already winning compensation for his injuries, the money he received did not include damages for the help needed with daily household tasks.

Raleys, who represented the father-of-one in his bid for compensation from his former employers, were found to have given him inadequate advice over what he was entitled to receive.

A judge awarded Mr Procter, who has worked at four pits across the region in his 28-year career, a further £5,539 in compensation for the loss of the opportunity to bring the extra claim.

Mr Procter said: “I’ve lived with vibration white finger for many years now and for me it is a painful condition. Gardening, washing the car or just being in the cold can be impossible at times and my fingers just don’t work too well. The compensation will go towards helping me do the things I find most difficult and I shouldn’t have had to wait this long to receive what I was fully entitled to.”

Robert Godfrey, partner with Mellor Hargreaves, who represented Mr Procter, said many miners were not treated fairly when they initially claimed damages for vibration white finger.

He said: “We are delighted with the extra compensation we have helped Andrew win but we are also aware there are many more former miners who could still be owed thousands of pounds in compensation.

“We are currently pursuing many similar cases right now and it’s a tragedy that these cases were not properly managed at the time, several years ago. We want to put that right and help ex-miners win the compensation they deserve.”

Mr Procter, a father-of-one, agreed to settle his original claim against British Coal and UK Coal Mining in 2003 for £11,141. But during a hearing at Leeds County Court last month, he and his solicitors argued that he received no payment for ‘services’, meaning damages to help pay for assistance with every day tasks.

In his judgment, Judge Mark Gosnell said: “It is the claimant’s case that if the defendants had properly advised him about the nature of the scheme and the claims which were open to him he would have made a claim for services and could have received £11,079 under this head.

“The defendants’ case is that he was properly advised and that the claimant failed to tell them that he had any need for services following his contraction of vibration white finger and that if he had done so, they would have advised him to consider making a claim.”

The judge awarded Mr Procter £5,539, half the compensation he could have received originally, after concluding his prospects of succeeding with the claim would have been 50 per cent.

Carol Gill, managing partner of Raleys Solicitors, said: “We are very disappointed with the judgment in this case and we are considering an appeal.”

Earlier this year ex-miner Ronald Barnaby, who worked at Kellingley Colliery, near Selby, for 26 years, was awarded £7,500 in a similar case against Raleys. The firm has now been granted an appeal at a date to be set.