Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)

If you have mesothelioma you should claim industrial injuries disablement benefit (IIDB).

Mesothelioma is prescribed disease D3, an industrial disease, which entitles you to a pension from the state.

IIDB for mesothelioma is now £145.80 per week.

To claim IIDB you should get form B1 100PD from a Jobcentre Plus. I will send you the form if you have not already done this.

Mesothelioma is prescribed disease number PD3 (on page 3).

It is important to state how you came into contact with asbestos (Page 3). There is no need to be too specific. For example you can put “Lagging on pipes” or “Asbestos insulation board.”  If you later bring a court action, you can be more specific.

Page 4 asks if you have a medical report or proof that you have mesothelioma. It will speed up the decision if you get a form called B1 100 PN(A) completed by your specialist cancer nurse or specialist respiratory disease nurse and send it with the BI100 PD form, or shortly afterwards.

 With your letter sending the application, ask for the application to be fast tracked. You should get a decision within about 4 weeks. If you have not had a decision by then, you should chase this.

Send the completed form or forms with any medical evidence you have that shows you have mesothelioma  to the IIDB office for your region.

Click here for IIDB office addresses.

There is no age limit for claiming IIDB. It can be paid even if you have not paid national insurance contributions. It is not affected by your existing income or savings. It will affect your entitlement to other state benefits such as pension credit, income support, employment support allowance (income related), income-based job-seekers' allowance, housing/council tax benefit.

You will always be better off claiming IIDB for mesothelioma because the benefit is paid at 100% disability rate of £145.80 a week.

You are entitled to be paid as soon as you are disabled by mesothelioma, which you are likely to be by the time you are diagnosed.

IIDB cannot be backdated more than 13 weeks, so you should apply for this benefit as soon as you are told you have mesothelioma.

IIDB can be paid on top of:

Contribution-based jobseekers' allowance

Contribution-based employment support allowance

Incapacity benefit, if you are ill

Retirement pension, if you are retired

Widows/Bereavement benefit, if you are widowed

Carer's allowance, if you are a carer

Disability Living Allowance (mobility component), if you have walking difficulties

Disability Living Allowance (care component)

Attendance allowance

Appeals
If you are refused IIDB, you can ask for the decision to be considered again by the Jobcentre Plus and then by an Appeal Tribunal. You will need help with this, and I will help you with this.

You must write to the Jobcentre Plus within one month of the date of the letter containing the decision refusing your application. In practice, you should not wait this long, and should appeal immediately.

If your own doctors have told you that you have mesothelioma, it is very unlikely that your application for IIDB will be refused. If you have to go to an Appeal Tribunal you should make sure you are represented.

If you lose the appeal or you think the benefit has been worked out wrongly, you can in some situations take it further to a Social Security Commissioner, or apply for another Tribunal hearing. You definitely need help from a welfare rights specialist or a solicitor at this stage.

Applying for IIDB after someone has died

If you are the next of kin, usually the executor for someone who has died of mesothelioma, you can make the claim posthumously.

You should write to your local Jobcentre Plus asking to be appointed to act on behalf of the person who has died. You should send the form B1 100 PD with the letter, and an original death certificate.

A claim to be appointed as the representative of the person who has died must be made within 6 months of the date the death certificate was issued, and you then have another 6 months to make the claim itself.

The Department for Work and Pensions has discretion to extend the first 6 month time limit if you have missed it, but there is an overall limit of 12 months, so you should do both things quickly.

Asbestos exposure during military service

If you have mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos in the Armed Services, you should claim a War Disablement Pension.

If your husband has died of mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure in the Armed Services,  you should claim War Widow’s Pension. 

You should contact

Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, Norcross, Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire FY5 3WP

Freephone 0800 169 22 77 (UK only)

+44 1253 866043 (Overseas)  

Email: veterans.help@spva.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone lines are open:
8.15 am to 5.15pm Monday to Thursday; and
8.15 am to 4.30pm Friday

Exposure to asbestos only before 1948

If you worked with asbestos but only before 5 July 1948, there is a different type of benefit paid under the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme.

You should contact

Pneumoconiosis Workers Compensation Section

Jobcentre Plus

Barrow IIDB Centre

Pittman Way

Preston PR11 2AB

Telephone: 0800 279 2322

Copyright © Anthony Coombs 2006