Solicitors Using BT In Their Hearing Loss Ads Nothing To Do With CWU

Once again TV and Radio advertising is being used by claims companies and solicitors jumping on the bandwagon of workplace injuries, in order to boost their profits.

Sadly, many people suffering from work induced hearing loss are being drawn into using such companies, rather than their own trade union’s legal services.

Now, the CWU is warning all members to be aware of using such companies, and specifically those such as Hugh James who draw in people by mentioning BT as one of the employers involved in such cases.

This from CWU’s website, clarifies the situation:

CWU legal experts are advising members not to confuse an advertising campaign being run by a firm of solicitors with the work being done by the union in regard to claims for BT engineers' hearing loss.

The union's head of legal services Tony Rupa explained:

"The solicitors firm Hugh James has no connection with the CWU and I would strongly advise against any CWU member using their services with regard to this type of claim.
CWU continues to run the vast majority of hearing loss claims against BT." he said, adding:

"Members who wish to make a claim should do so via the normal channels."

Tony went on to clarify the situation around BT's recent statement concerning the "three-year limitation" issue.

"BT has recently informed our panel solicitors that they are withdrawing their position statement as from January 2013. In normal circumstances, an individual has three years from the date of an accident or date of knowledge of an injury in which to raise a claim for compensation, but, due to the nature of the hearing loss claims and the use of the faulty equipment, BT agreed to waive the three-year limitation period. This enabled our solicitors to settle claims for compensation for injuries which occurred outside of the three-year limit," Tony explained.

BT's decision to withdraw from that position from January 2013 does not mean that claims cannot be submitted after this date, as CWU's solicitors do still have the opportunity to challenge BT in this regard on a case-by-case basis.

Claimants are required to undertake a specialist hearing test to determine the cause of hearing loss and only those which can prove a link to the use of faulty equipment are eligible for compensation.

For further information, please contact CWU Legal Services on: trupa@cwu.org or visit the Legal Services section of our website.

Source: CWU

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