Common law cases: discontinued or unresolved cases

Records of unresolved or discontinued individual claims for common law damages.

The records in this series were preserved by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Derbyshire Area as 'continuing' claims but the records themselves suggest the claims were not pursued or discontinued by the union or claimant.

Under the system of Workmen's Compensation Acts that were in place before the introduction of the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946, mineworkers - and other industrial workers - had to choose between claiming compensation or suing for common law damages. Once a mineworker had chosen to accept compensation he no longer had the right to pursue common law damages. The National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946, which commenced in July 1946, allowed mineworkers, and other colliery staff, to claim benefits for injuries suffered in the course of their employment, whether caused by their employer or another person, and also allowed them to claim common law damages.