You may have seen the ads on television about the billions of dollars deposited in bankruptcy trusts for the victims of asbestos-related disease, and you may be wondering how you can obtain compensation from these trusts for your case.
A wide variety of asbestos-containing products are implicated by the trusts, including pipe covering, insulating cement, joint compound, vermiculite insulation, fireproofing material, acoustical plaster, roofing materials, floor and ceiling tiles. Depending upon your job classification, and where you worked, you may be able to file claims with a few or many of the trusts. Every case in this respect is different.
Over fifty asbestos personal injury liability trusts have been established by the federal bankruptcy courts. The majority of these trusts are open to liability for exposure to products that were distributed nationally. Some of the trusts are limited to certain sections of the county where the bankrupt company’s products were sold and distributed.
The value that any one trust places on an individual claim varies with the type of disease and whether the injury caused the claimant’s family an economic hardship. A greater value is attached to an established mesothelioma claim rather thana lung cancer claim because the former is an aggressive cancer caused only by exposure to asbestos. The latter, although an equally devastating disease, may have been caused by exposure to other carcinogens, in addition to asbestos.