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The Mesothelioma Bill will enable compensation levels to rise from £20,000 to an average of £123,000, for Mesothelioma victims who are unable to track down their negligent former employers and insurers. The Bill, which comes into effect from April 1st, had come under criticism in the past forcing the Government to make U-turns on certain policies.
Now, thousands of patients diagnosed after July 2012 who are unable to make a Mesothelioma compensation claim from negligent employers, often due to them having gone bust or where insurance details have disappeared, will be able to claim from the £380m pot, with hopefully quicker settlements. This is vital, as although Mesothelioma can take decades to emerge, once symptoms start developing it progresses quickly with many sufferers dying within three years of diagnosis.
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer brought on through asbestos exposure. High risk jobs include carpenters, plumbers, electricians, pipe fitters, metal workers and in more recent years it’s come to light, teachers.
Inhaling asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, accounting for 4,000 deaths per year, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Deaths from Mesothelioma continue to increase in the UK (from 153 in 1968 to 2,347 in 2010). With the numbers predicted to continue to increase over the next 30 years, resulting in an estimated death toll of between 56,000 and 63,000, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Mesothelioma Act, which was passed in January, enabled the creation of the £380m compensation pot, funded by the insurance industry. To be eligible to claim from the pot applicants will have to demonstrate that they were negligently exposed to asbestos at work and are unable to claim compensation because they cannot track down a liable employer or insurer. They also have to have been diagnosed after July 2012.
Up until now, two pieces of legislation have allowed victims and their families to claim damages, however the sums paid have rarely amounted to more than £20,000. The new fund will entitle claimants to 75% of the average settlement paid out in civil actions relating to mesothelioma, meaning payments of around £123,000.
Mike Penning, Work and Pensions Minister said “This will end years of injustice for mesothelioma victims and their families”
Dr John Moore-Gillon, honorary medical adviser at the British Lung Foundation said: "Mesothelioma is a particularly devastating disease, killing over 2,400 people every year in the UK, most of whom were innocently exposed to asbestos in the work place."
"The government's announcement is therefore a positive move for mesothelioma patients and their families, many of whom struggled to gain any compensation at all until recently."
"What we urgently need to see now is greater commitment to funding research into new treatments for mesothelioma."
He added: "Although compensation awards are very helpful, they don't change the fact that most people who develop mesothelioma will be dead in less than three years."
"Only research investment will change that - it is what patients and their families want, and with over 50,000 likely to die of the disease in the UK within the next 30 years, it is something we desperately need to prioritise."
In agreement that the Bill does not go far enough is Jamie Hanley, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Pudsey, arguing that 75% compensation level is too low and that the scheme should be backdated to February 2010, rather than July 2012.
If you are suffering from Mesothelioma (or any type of illness or injury caused by exposure to asbestos) as the result of others negligence then you may have the right to seek Industrial Accident Compensation (sometimes also called an Industrial Illness Claim). As with other personal injury claims there is a 3 year timescale within which these need to be made, but this starts from when the diagnosis was made, not from when the exposure occurred.
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