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Coal Health Claims

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Minister signed the coal health agreements in 1999 with (a) Vendside and (b) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers. [2405]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 8 June 2005]: The then Minister for Energy and Industry, the right hon. Member for Leeds, West approved the signing, by coal health claims officials, of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Vibration White Finger handling agreements.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many meetings have taken place between his Department and Clare Walker of Vendside since 1998. [2518]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 8 June 2005]: Officials from the Department's Coal Liabilities Unit meet with the UDM to discuss operational issues on approximately a monthly basis. Other ad hoc meetings have taken place when necessary.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investigations have been instigated by his Department into (a) Walker and Co (Claims Management) Ltd. and (b) Indiclaim Ltd. concerning charging for coalminers compensation. [2520]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 8 June 2005]: The Department has not instigated any investigations into either Walker and Co (Claims Management) Ltd. or Indiclaim Ltd.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which 20 solicitors received the highest number of deceased miners' claims in (a) 2001, (b) 2002, (c) 2003 and (d) 2004. [2665]

Malcolm Wicks: The solicitors who received the most claims in relation to deceased miners are as set out in the following tables:

**Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease2001**
Number	Solicitors⁽¹⁹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Mark Gilbert Morse	4,269
2	Thompsons	1,314
3	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	895
4	Hugh James Ford Simey	822
5	Raleys Solicitors	564
6	Browell Smith and Co	489
7	Moss Solicitors	170
8	Graysons	169
9	Beresfords Solicitors	166
10	Watson Burton	155
11	Meloy Whittle Robinson	123
12	The Legal Warehouse	111
13	J M Skinner Solicitors	108
14	Ingrams Solicitors	87
15	Corries	84
16	Lopian Wagner Solicitors	74
17	Towells Solicitors	74
18	AMS Law	74
19	Colemans Solicitors	70
20	Mortons Solicitors	70

13 Jun 2005 : Column 71W

**2002**
Number	Solicitors⁽¹⁹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Thompsons	1,626
2	Mark Gilbert Morse	781
3	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	557
4	Beresfords Solicitors	556
5	Browell Smith and Co	439
6	Raleys Solicitors	437
7	The Legal Warehouse	234
8	Corries	194
9	Ingrams Solicitors	172
10	Kidd and Spoor Harper Solicitors	152
11	Moss Solicitors	134
12	Graysons	126
13	Hugh James Ford Simey	120
14	Mortons Solicitors	117
15	Avalon	84
16	Gorvin Smith Fort	72
17	Atteys	71
18	Morisons Solicitors	62
19	Emsleys Solicitors	60
20	Pannone and Partners	55

**2003**
Number	Solicitors⁽¹⁹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Hugh James Ford Simey	13,999
2	Beresfords Solicitors	10,160
3	Barber and Co	7,084
4	Mark Gilbert Morse	5,233
5	Avalon	2,676
6	Thompsons	2,248
7	Watson Burton	2,109
8	Onyems and Partners	1,547
9	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	1,519
10	Raleys Solicitors	1,306
11	Corries	1,114
12	Birchall Blackburn	1,077
13	Ingrams Solicitors	1,000
14	Browell Smith and Co	844
15	Proddow and Mackay Solicitors	827
16	The Legal Warehouse	820
17	Gorman Hamilton Solicitors	696
18	Wake Smith	646
19	BRM Solicitors	594
20	Kidd and Spoor Harper Solicitors	474

**2004**
Number	Solicitors⁽¹⁹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Hugh James Ford Simey	9,949
2	Avalon	8,744
3	Beresfords Solicitors	6,940
4	Raleys Solicitors	5,777
5	Thompsons	5,406
6	Delta Legal	5,056
7	Browell Smith and Co	4,682
8	Birchall Blackburn	3,401
9	Corries	2,790
10	Mark Gilbert Morse	2,659
11	Barber and Co	2,351
12	Hilary Meredith Solicitors	1,927
13	1 Legal Solicitors	1,850
14	Recompense Ltd	1,722
15	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	1,572
16	Irwin Mitchell	1,551
17	Bailey Bravo Jobling	1,532
18	Ingrams Solicitors	1,308
19	Gorman Hamilton Solicitors	1,188
20	The Legal Warehouse	1,080

⁽¹⁹⁾ Top twenty solicitors are in descending order and based on the number of claims received in the year. Claim receipts are those claims that are fully registered, i.e. exclude pool of claims accepted with minimum data, awaiting further information to permit cross-referencing and duplicate checks prior to full registration.
⁽²⁰⁾ Claims registered reflects the total number of deceased claims registered, i.e. does not include claims that were registered live but have died since.

13 Jun 2005 : Column 72W

**Vibration white finger2001**
Number	Solicitors⁽²¹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Browell Smith and Co	12
2	Union of Democratic Mineworkers	8
3	Thompsons	4
4	The Paul Rooney Partnership	3
5	Latham and Co Solicitors	3
6	Graysons	1
7	McConville O'Neill	1
8	Colemans Solicitors	1
9	Raleys Solicitors	1
10	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	1
11	Mark Gilbert Morse	1
12	Keeble Hawson Moorhouse	1
13	Frank Alien Pennington Solicitors	1
14	Furley Page	1

**2002**
Number	Solicitors⁽²¹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Beresfords Solicitors	391
2	Hugh James Ford Simey	349
3	Thompsons	342
4	Towells Solicitors	239
5	Graysons	148
6	Union of Democratic Mineworkers	147
7	Moss Solicitors	97
8	Raleys Solicitors	93
9	AMS Law	76
10	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	75
11	The Legal Warehouse	56
12	Browell Smith and Co	46
13	Irwin Mitchell	42
14	O H Parsons	27
15	Motions Solicitors	22
16	Ingrams Solicitors	18
17	Pannone and Partners	15
18	Meloy Whittle Robinson	15
19	Atteys	15
20	Keeble Hawson Moorhouse	12

**2003**
Number	Solicitors⁽²¹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	Thompsons	208
2	Union of Democratic Mineworkers	113
3	Beresfords Solicitors	105
4	Hugh James Ford Simey	78
5	Watson Burton	77
6	Raleys Solicitors	67
7	Atteys	53
8	Kidd and Spoor Harper Solicitors	53
9	Graysons	42
10	T S Edwards and Son Solicitors	40
11	AMS Law	33
12	The Legal Warehouse	31
13	Hopkins	30
14	Browell Smith and Co	26
15	Corries	16
16	Towells Solicitors	15
17	Pannone and Partners	13
18	Furley Page	13
19	Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin	11
20	Mortons Solicitors	11

13 Jun 2005 : Column 73W

**2004**
Number	Solicitors⁽²¹⁾	Claims registered 2
1	AMS Law	5
2	Beresfords Solicitors	1
3	Corries	1
4	Mortons Solicitors	1

⁽²¹⁾ Top twenty solicitors are in descending order and based on the number of claims received in the year.
⁽²²⁾ Claims registered reflects the total number of deceased claims registered, i.e. does not include claims that were registered live but have died since.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many deceased miners' claims were submitted by Vendside in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004. [2667]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of claims submitted by Vendside is as follows:


Total deceased claims registered	COPD	VWF	Total
2003	59	113	172
2004	46	0	46
Total	105	113	218

Notes:
1. Claims registered reflects the total of deceased claims registered, i.e. does not include claims that were registered live but have died since.
2. Claim receipts are those claims that are fully registered, i.e. exclude pool of claims accepted with minimum data, awaiting further information to permit cross-referencing and duplicate checks prior to full registration.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many deceased miners' claims were submitted by (a) Beresfords, (b) Wake Smith, (c) AMS Law and (d) Moss solicitors in 2004. [2668]

Malcolm Wicks: Deceased miners claims submitted in 2004 were as follows:


Solicitor	COPD 1	VWF 1
AMS Law	816	5
Beresfords Solicitors	6,940	1
Moss Solicitors	125	0
Wake Smith	87	0
Total	7,968	6

⁽²³⁾ Claims registered reflects the total of deceased claims registered, i.e. does not include claims that were registered live but have died since.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requests he has made to Wake Smith solicitors to repay monies to his Department following payments by Wake Smith solicitors to Indiclaim Ltd in connection with the miners' industrial disease compensation scheme. [2669]

Malcolm Wicks: No such requests have been made.

13 Jun 2005 : Column 74W

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many solicitors' firms have claimed back money from his Department while paying fees to (a) Walker and Co. Claims Management Ltd. and (b) Indiclaim Ltd. in connection with the miners' industrial disease compensation scheme. [2670]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department's claims handlers are not informed which solicitors' firms make payments to Walker and Co. Claims Management Ltd. and Indiclaim Ltd.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many deceased miners' claims were submitted from (a) Bassetlaw constituency, (b) Mansfield constituency, (c) Nottinghamshire, (d) East Midlands and (e) Yorkshire in (i) 2003 and (ii) 2004. [2671]

Malcolm Wicks: The numbers requested are as follows:


	2003		2004
Solicitor	COPD	VWF	COPD	VWF
Bassetlaw constituency	629	28	635	1
Mansfield constituency	586	35	645	0
Nottinghamshire,
Derbyshire and Leicestershire 306		154	493	0
Yorkshire	17,011	340	21,625	6
Total	18,532	557	23,398	7

Notes:
1. Claims registered reflect the total of deceased claims registered, i.e. does not include claims that were registered live but have died since.
2. Statistics for Bassetlaw and Mansfield are based on claimant postcode for the relative constituency. Statistics for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire and Yorkshire are based on deceased claims registered in that area by solicitor postcode.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for dispersement payments have been refused to Richmonds solicitors. [2672]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department's claims handlers do not record this information.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when his Department gave authority for the claims handling agreement with the Union of Democratic Mineworkers to be run by Vendside Ltd. [2707]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has always understood that Vendside are the Union for Democratic Mineworkers' claims handling agents and are therefore entitled to handle claims on its behalf.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions took place with the Treasury on the VAT implications of his Department's agreement with Vendside Ltd. [2729]

Malcolm Wicks: No such discussions have taken place.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has referred the matters connected with the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and Vendside Ltd. which it is investigating to the National Audit Office. [2730]

13 Jun 2005 : Column 75W

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has made no such referral.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what audit his Department has (a) carried out and (b) commissioned into (i) whether there has been abuse of deceased coalminers' claims for industrial disease and (ii) what potential exists for such abuse. [2731]

Malcolm Wicks: Procedures are in place to detect and prosecute fraudulent claims. In schemes of this nature, there is always the possibility that an individual will seek to obtain a payment to which he is not entitled.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which 20 solicitors have received the highest average payments per claim for work done in connection with deceased miners' claims. [2732]

Malcolm Wicks: The solicitors with the highest average fees for deceased miners' claims are as follows:


Number	Solicitor	Deceased settlements⁽²⁴⁾	Total solicitors costs paid (£)	Average solicitors costs paid (£)
1	Frank Alien Pennington Solicitors	1	1,720	1,720
2	Branton Bridge	1	1,397	1,397
3	Ben Hoare Bell and Co Solicitors	1	859	859
4	Banner Jones Middleton	1	737	737
5	Thompson and Co Solicitors	4	1,606	402
6	Raleys Solicitors	57	19,522	342
7	Mortons Solicitors	8	2,302	288
8	Simpson Millar Solicitors	3	766	255
9	Graysons	33	7,921	240
10	Latham and Co Solicitors	5	1,175	235
11	Pannone and Partners	18	4,100	228
12	Thompsons	148	20,990	42
13	Watson Burton	22	3,071	140
14	O H Parsons	24	2,629	110
15	Keeble Hawson Moorhouse	10	999	100
16	Browell Smith and Co	93	6,872	74
17	Hopkins	19	1,105	58
18	AMS Law	60	3,165	53
19	Atteys	37	1,941	52
20	Ingrams Solicitors	15	588	39

⁽²⁴⁾ Deceased settlements reflect total settlements on claims registered as deceased, i.e. does not include claims that were registered live but have died since. Total settlements are reported, encompassing claims settled by payment and denial/withdrawal.

Note:
No costs are payable to solicitors where the claim is settled by denial or withdrawal.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees of AON Irisc had previously worked for the National Coal Board on the date of the signing of the DTI/Irisc contract for coal health claims. [2733]

Malcolm Wicks: At this time, Irisc employed approximately 120 staff of which about 78 had worked for the British Coal Corporation.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons his Department signed coal health agreements with both Vendside and the Union of Democratic Mineworkers. [2735]

Malcolm Wicks: Following the judgments against British Coal in both the Vibration White Finger and respiratory disease litigations, the High Court ordered

13 Jun 2005 : Column 76W

the DTI to set up schemes, in agreement with miners' solicitors, to assess compensation for both types of claim. Claims had by then been registered through the Claimants Solicitors Group (the CSG), some of which were sponsored by the main mining unions, the NUM and NACODS. The UDM had also registered a large number of claims directly on behalf of their members, through their dedicated claims handling company, Vendside Limited. The CSG and the UDM were unable to work together or enter into single arrangements for historical reasons. The legal advice received by the Department was that it was appropriate to enter into separate claims handling arrangements with the CSG and the UDM, provided that the compensation delivered to the claimant under both schemes was the same.

Vendside Limited were, at the time of entering into the claims handling arrangements, the vehicle through which the UDM presented claims on behalf of their members. Vendside Limited entered into the Vibration White Finger claims, handling arrangement for and on behalf of the UDM. The legal advice received at the time was that Vendside Limited had authority to enter into arrangement for and on behalf of the UDM.

Source: The Stationery Office