Colin how sad for you and your wife.
Please try not to second-guess your past choices. You tried to make what you felt was the right decision in the past, and maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but it is in the past. Most of us have decisions that in hindsight give us some doubts, but we can only live in the present moment.
I’m inclined to think that compensation is a fair thing to seek, as both your wife and you are profoundly disadvantaged by the consequences of a company’s failure to exercise duty of care to its customers. As you have had a stroke as a consequence of the stress, and your wife is disabled and needing 24/7 care, your lives are financially impacted as well as in other serious ways. I hope that justice will be delivered to you both soon.
My prayers for you and your wife,
kind wishes, Trishie