ll cases are different. If an offer is made to you, ask your solicitor to break it down into the headings listed below, so you can understand what the offer means.

Compensation for pain and suffering

If you have occupational asthma you are entitled to compensation for the symptoms you have and the disability they cause, which will take into account the risk of you getting worse as time goes by. People with asthma have a very wide range of disability, so there is a wide range of awards from about £10,000 to as much as £50,000 for very severe disability.

If you hear about awards much higher than this, it is because of other items that you can claim for.

Interest on compensation for pain and suffering

This is paid at 2% from the date the court papers starting the case are sent to your employer or the company you are claiming against. The sooner a court action is begun, the more interest you will get.

Loss of wages/salary

If you are dismissed or have to give up your job because of asthma, then you will be awarded the money you have lost up to the point your case is decided in court, and you will be awarded money for future loss of wages. You will be awarded interest on the wages you have lost, at 3.5% a year.

Future loss of wages or salary is likely to be the biggest part of the award for many asthma victims. If you have to change your job because you developed asthma at work, or if you cannot work at all because of your illness, you may be given a large sum for future loss of earnings. For example, a person aged 40 may be given this loss of wages, which is worked out on a yearly basis, for 18 years.

Even if your loss is not a permanent one, and you will in the future get back to the level of earnings you had before you developed asthma, you may not be able to do this for several years.

Loss of earning capacity

Someone with occupational asthma, even if they have very mild symptoms, is not an attractive employment prospect for a future employer. Most larger employers ask questions about your health before taking you on. You will be at a disadvantage on the labour market. If you cannot tolerate cold air or any type of dust or fume, then even if you do not have to do this sort of work now, you might have to do it in the future, and you will be entitled to compensation for this loss of earning capacity. How much compensation a Court will award you for this is very unpredictable. It will depend on your age, your employability in other jobs that your asthma does not prevent you from doing, and your ability to retrain. But a loss of earning capacity award is likely to be given to anyone who has developed occupational asthma and has left their job, lost their job, or might lose their job in the future.

Care

If you need to be looked after by family or friends, either now or in the future, compensation will be awarded for this, even if the care you receive is provided free of charge, as it usually is. This will only be relevant if you have severe asthma, or might have severe asthma in the future.

Medical expenses

You are entitled to the cost of private medical treatment, but you will need to lay out the money for this yourself, unless the company you are claiming from admits fault during the court action. If they admit fault, you can get a payment on account (an interim payment) in your court action, which is sometimes used to pay for medical treatment. You are also entitled to be compensated for prescription charges and traveling expenses involved in medical treatment.

Special equipment

Badly disabled people have to buy stair lifts, specially adapted accommodation and bathrooms, or ground floor accommodation. You may need to have accommodation close to the people who are going to look after you.

Loss of a pension

If you lose your job, and there was a pension attached to the job, you are entitled to be compensated for the pension you have actually lost.

Specialist lawyers

Avoid Claims handlers

It is better to have a solicitor and a barrister who has specialized in lung disease compensation claims than to sign up with the claims handlers who advertise on television and radio. Some of these claims handlers have had very negative press recently, for various reasons. You are better off going directly to a specialist solicitor.

Avoid Non-specialist lawyers

It is better for you to go to a solicitor who has specialized in lung disease compensation claims than to a high street solicitor who might have done your conveyancing or prepared your will. You have a much better chance of winning the case and having it done quickly if you go to a specialist.

What will a solicitor do?

This is what should happen if you go to a specialist solicitor. The solicitor will want to establish that you do have occupational asthma, and that there is an employer or manufacturer with the ability to compensate you for this. The solicitor will not know you have occupational asthma unless a chest physician or occupational physician has investigated you already. If this has not already happened, your solicitor will probably ask you to request your GP to refer you to a specialist hospital unit, or you might want to see a specialist doctor at your own expense. If the solicitor knows about occupational asthma, he will be able to tell you which is the nearest such unit. You might want to pay a chest physician privately for such investigations and an opinion, but this will not usually be necessary unless there is some real urgency to start a court action within days or weeks. It is not likely that any solicitor will pay for a medical opinion unless you have already been told by your doctors or the Benefits Agency that you have occupational asthma. Such a medical opinion is likely to cost about £500 if you have to pay for it.