A Yorkshire firm has set up a new website to gather claims from former coal miners who believe that solicitors undersettled their original government compen­sation claims.

The site, Minerscompensationclaims.com, was launched in December by nine-partner firm Jordans. The website aims to gather previously settled claims from former miners for vibration white finger (VWF), a disease of the hands caused by vibrating mining tools, and determine whether their solicitor should have won the claimant more compensation.

Jordans launched a local advertising campaign highlighting the undersettlement issue in September last year, and has since opened case files ‘getting into the hundreds’, said partner Christine Sands, who heads a team of three lawyers working on undersettlement cases.

Text on the website reads: ‘Calling all miners suffering from Vibration White Finger? Did you receive an award under the Vibration White Finger Compensation Scheme? Did your claim include damages for services – everyday tasks such as DIY, gardening, window cleaning, decorating or car maintenance? IF NOT you may be entitled to additional damages.’Jordans offers a ‘no win, no fee’ service for potential claimants.

Meanwhile, Paul Stott, partner at north-east firm Ingrams and co-creator of undersettlement website claimagain.com, said that enquiries to the website have led to 280 case files being opened since its launch in November last year.

The issue of undersettlement in miners’ coal health compensation claims and the concerns around levels of services damages for VWF claims were explored by the Gazette in a special investigation last year (see [2009] Gazette, 30 July, 6).