WEIGHTMANS – WILL THE END OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HERALD A NEW ERA OF CLAIMS FOR AIR POLLUTION-RELATED INJURIES?

Author - Richard Burrows

The Ella Kissi-Debrah inquest

2020 will forever by synonymous with the coronavirus pandemic. Whilst there is the feeling and hope that we are now in the final chapter of the pandemic, there is a potential new category of personal injury claim on the horizon arising from air pollution, which although seemingly unrelated to the pandemic itself, may have been inadvertently contributed to by the same. In the closing weeks of 2020, the first finding in the UK of air pollution contributing to a death was recorded at the inquest into the death of Ella Kissi-Debrah. This opens the door to potential claims from existing sufferers of respiratory conditions, and to the families and estates of individuals who have sadly passed away from potential air pollution-related conditions.