Legal services

ASLEF members can receive advice, support and representation on the whole range of legal issues that they may encounter in their day-to-day lives.

These include personal injury, employment rights (including equal rights, human rights and pensions), settlement agreements and criminal law, as well as support for medical negligence, conveyancing, probate and power of attorney.

Our legal service is provided by Thompsons Solicitors. Thompsons has worked solely for trade union members and workers throughout its 100-year history, and never for employers or insurers.

Thompsons’ regional office structure means that you will be seen as near as possible to your place of work or local union office.

Get in touch with Thompsons’ legal experts

 

A comprehensive package of legal support

The legal services provided to ASLEF members include:

Work related accidents and diseases

ASLEF members regularly risk injury, their health and even their lives in the course of their duty.

Our free personal injury service means that you will have access to immediate advice and representation if you have been injured or suffered illness as a result of a negligent employer.

Thompsons’ highly experienced workplace accident lawyers will help you secure compensation for any pain and suffering caused, and for loss of earnings, if breach of duty can be proven.

Fault can be proven in a number of ways. For example:

  • Defective equipment
  • Inadequate safety precautions
  • Insufficient training or instructions
  • Operational system failures
  • Unsafe working practices.

Even if you doubt whether your employer, infrastructure controller or anyone else was at fault, you should still contact the legal service for advice.

There is a strict time limit in place (three years from the date you first became aware you had suffered an injury) when making a personal injury claim, so delays should be avoided.

 

Non-fatal workplace accidents

Make sure that any accidents are recorded in the accidents book in your workplace.

Contact Thompsons Solicitors directly on 0808 100 8009 or get in touch online here.

 

Fatal workplace accidents

Families of ASLEF members can also use the service to seek compensation where a member is killed in the course of duty or dies as a result of an industrial disease.

Family members can also contact Thompsons directly on 0808 100 8009 or start a claim online.

Non work related accidents and diseases

Members and their family members can also take advantage of the free legal service for any accident or injury suffered outside of work. For example, a member may be injured while playing sport, as a result of a defective product, while out and about shopping, or as a diver, pedestrian or cyclist.

People who are injured in this way are often unsure about what rights they have to claim compensation, and from whom. Our legal services mean you never need to feel alone in these circumstances. Thompsons’ personal injury experts will be able to advise and represent you.

As with all personal injury cases, time is of the essence, and members should get in contacts within three years from the date you or your family member first became aware of an injury.

Get in touch with Thompsons directly on 0808 100 8009 or start a claim online.

Free online wills service

Everyone should make a will, and ASLEF recommends that you take advantage of our free wills service. If you don’t make a will, there is a danger that those you would have wanted to look after your affairs and to benefit from your estate will not do so.

The wills service is provided by BBH Legal, a subsidiary of Thompsons Solicitors.

You can make a basic simple will free of charge. For more complex wills, members have access to discounted rates.

Conveyancing, probate and power of attorney

The ASLEF legal service also ensures members and family members have access to legal support for conveyancing, probate and power of attorney.

These services are accessed via BBH Legal, a subsidiary of Thompsons Solicitors.

Members and family members receive discounted rate for these services. Please get in touch with BBH Legal by calling 0800 051 4218 or visiting www.bbhlegal.co.uk.

More information

Members can find more information about the legal service by visiting www.thompsonstradeunion.law/aslef.

Thompsons also provides free online resources to give you a better understanding of your rights and entitlement.