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Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK Update
Mesothelioma Provisions in the Child Maintenance and other Payments Bill It is expected that the provisions in the Bill relating to mesothelioma lump sum payments will be enacted in October 2008. The Department for Works and Pensions will be holding seminars in September in major cities on the new provisions and the new scheme application forms. The Bill, once enacted, will provide for a new scheme to make lump sum payments to mesothelioma sufferers who do not qualify for a payment under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 (1979 Act) and for those who are ineligible for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, so that ALL mesothelioma sufferers will receive a lump sum payment. Payments under the new scheme will be commensurate with amounts recovered under the 1979 Act, and will be less than 1979 Act payments for about three years by which time payments should be equalised. Most importantly, we understand that the 12-month time limit for an application for a ayment under the new scheme will NOT apply for the first year.
Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance The government intends to revoke the 1999 regulation requiring employers to retain insurance policies for 40 years. Each year, hundreds of claimants fail to receive compensation because insurance policies cannot be traced for employers who are no longer trading. If the government refuses to listen to the many representations from MPs, the TUC, PIL and asbestos victims support groups, and revokes the regulation without putting in place other safeguards, such as a statutory requirement for employers to record insurance policies on a central database, the government will be justifiably condemned for undermining its stated intention of speeding up mesothelioma claims and helping mesothelioma sufferers. To see Commons early day motions in employers’ compulsory liability insurance 1829 and 1839 go to: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMList.aspx
Pleural Plaques The Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill was published on the 24 June 2008. The Bill allows an application for damages for pleural plaques, symptomless asbestos-related pleural thickening and asbestosis, so that the House of Lords decision on pleural plaques would cease to apply in Scotland. The Bill and ancillary documents are available on the Scottish Parliament web site: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/12-Asbestos/index.htm The Government, which is opposed to overturning the House of Lord’s decision, will issue a consultation document on pleural plaques in July 2008. A scheme has been mooted which would pay a fixed payment to all plaques sufferers and allow a claim for damages should another asbestos-related disease develop. The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) which advises the Secretary of State for Works and Pensions about Industrial Injuries benefit has been asked to conduct a review of pleural plaques. Information about the review, and how to give evidence to the review, can be obtained from the IIAC website: http://www.iiac.org.uk/pdf/reports/asbestos_pleural_plaques_200608.pdf Anthony Whitston – Email: asbestos.gmavsg@virgin.net Copyright © Anthony Coombs 2006 |