High Court Victory for Vendside and the UDM

May 22, 2006 - Press Dispensary - Sick and dying miners could face huge legal bills after an “unnecessary” application supported by the Action Group for Miners (AGM) against compensation claim handling company, Vendside, was thrown out by the High Court today. Judge Sir Michael Turner said that the application, backed by the AGM and John Mann MP, for a Group Litigation Order was “a gross abuse of the system” and “doomed from the start”.

In his judgement, Sir Michael Turner told the AGM the application had been “pursued aggressively and without proper regard to the rules” and “as a consequence, the interests of the claimants which should have been paramount will not have been met”. The judge warned the applicants in December 2005 that they faced an uphill task in trying to persuade him to make the order. Now their application has failed, miners and their families could face legal bills of more than £1 million.

Richard Stockdale of Brooke North Solicitors, representing Vendside and the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, says: “The High Court’s rejection of the AGM’s application fully vindicates our firm belief that this whole application is nothing but a grossly unjustified attack on Vendside and the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) is lacking substance and evidence. The AGM could only find 69 claimants to join their group action, while Vendside and the UDM have already secured £158 million compensation for more than 29,000 sick and injured miners.”

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Vendside was set up in 1997 by the Nottingham Section of the UDM (under accountants advice for VAT reasons) to handle miners' compensation claims for the UDM.

Vendside is the only company to have a separate and individual claims handling agreement (CHA) with the DTI which formally authorises it to bring claims on behalf of miners.

Vendside is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Law Society.

Claimants, who pursue claims through Vendside, sign an agreement, whereby non financial members of the UDM agree to pay a fee, on a sliding scale, if their claim is successful.

No successful claimant has ever paid more than £600 to Vendside, and many have paid considerably less.

For further information please contact:
Vickie Tindall, Harrison Cowley
Tel: 0113 237 0777
Email:
Site: www.harrisoncowley.com