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 Lump-sum payment for all mesothelioma sufferers
12/11/2008
According to an article written by the SHPonline on the 5/11/2008, a new lump-sum payment will be made to all people in the UK who have been diagnosed with the fatal asbestos-related disease Mesothelioma, even if they were not directly exposed to asbestos in the workplace.
The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, which came into force last month, introduces a scheme that breaks the link between workplace exposure and asbestos.
Payments will be made by the DWP to those people who are not currently eligible for help, such as the self-employed, those exposed to asbestos in the environment, and family members exposed to it via workers’ overalls.
However, the North East Asbestos Support and Awareness Group has claimed that under the programme, the Government will recover the full lump sum from partial damages in law, and that, consequently, some asbestos victims will lose compensation to fund the scheme.
A DWP spokesperson refuted this, stressing that it would only recover the full lump-sum payment if the civil-law payments were greater than the original lump sum.
She said: “The injured person is not financially disadvantaged because they will still receive the same amount of money. It also maintains the principle that the injured party is not compensated twice for the same need, and to ensure the costs of benefits paid out by the Government as a result of an accident, injury, or disease are met by the responsible party.”
It is estimated that up to 600 people could receive an average £10,000 each during the the scheme’s first two years of operation. Damages will depend on the age of the person at the date they were diagnosed.
If you have any asbestos-related matters that you would like to discuss, please contact our Health & Safety Services manager, Andrea Beswick on 01274 738 668 or email her at andrea@envirocare.org referencing this Asbestos article.
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