Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)

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

Mesothelioma is a prescribed disease, in other words recognised by the Department of Work and Pensions as an industrial disease, which entitles you to a pension from the state. Mesothelioma is prescribed disease D3

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IIDB for mesothelioma is now £136.80 per week.

For the purpose of industrial injuries disablement benefit, it is not necessary to have a biopsy, if the treating doctors are satisfied that you probably have mesothelioma.

To claim IIDB you should get form B1 100PN from a Jobcentre Plus. I will do this for you, if you have not already applied for this benefit, or I will send you a form. Tick the box "diffuse mesothelioma PD D3" on page 3. You may need help to complete this form from a welfare rights advisor.

Unless you have a written report from your specialist saying that you have mesothelioma, it will speed up the decision if you can get a form called B1 100 PN(A). This is a one page form that has to be signed by your specialist cancer nurse or specialist respiratory disease nurse, who will confirm that you have mesothelioma. Most big hospitals have specialist cancer nurses or Macmillan nurses

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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 address details.

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, income-based job-seekers' allowance, housing/council tax benefit.

However, you will always be better off claiming IIDB for mesothelioma because the benefit is paid at 100% disability rate of £136.80 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.

In order to get IIDB you will no longer have to see a doctor employed by the Department of Work and Pensions. A general practitioner or hospital specialist's report, or the Form B1 100 PN(A) completed by your cancer or respiratory nurse is enough, and you will be given a 100% disability assessment automatically.

I will do all this for you, if you have not done it already.

IIDB can be paid on top of:

Contribution-based jobseekers' 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

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.

If you have mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos in the Armed Services, you should claim a War Disablement Pension. You do this by contacting:

The Veterans Agency
Norcross, Blackpool FY5 3WP
Help line 0800 169 22 77

The War Pensioners Welfare Service
Albert Bridge House
Bridge Street
Manchester M60 9DF
Help line 0161 831 2195/6
Fax 0161 831 2193
www.veteransagency.mod.uk

If you worked with asbestos before 5th July 1948 there is a different type of benefit. You should telephone the Department of Work and Pensions on 0845 603 1358, the "Old Schemes Section". I will do this for you if you would like me to.

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 PN with the letter, and an original death certificate. I will help you do this.

A posthumous 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 of 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.