Press Release

GOVERNMENT’S ASBESTOS ANNOUNCEMENT ‘A MAJOR STEP FORWARD’

22 March 2007

Government plans to introduce early benefit payments for sufferers of a terminal asbestos-related disease have been welcomed by lawyers.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton, made the announcement at a special ‘mesothelioma summit’, hosted by the Department for Work and Pensions*, which came at the end of more than a year of concerted effort to improve the claims system for mesothelioma sufferers.

“With deaths from mesothelioma expected to peak in the next five to ten years*, the plan to introduce this financial support to those who most need it is a major step forward,” said Martin Bare, vice-president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

“We hope the necessary legislative  slot can now be found as quickly as possible, so the intention can become a reality without delay.

And he called for continued cross-Government co-operation to maintain the momentum for reform.

“A lot of work has been done in the past year by lawyers, insurers, trade unions, government departments and victim support groups to try to bring mesothelioma sufferers some comfort in the last weeks and months of their lives,” he said.

“But there is still work to do to ensure people receive the full compensation they need as quickly as possible, and it is hoped that the Government can continue to work in a co-ordinated way to drive this agenda to its conclusion.

“Among other things”, he explained, “we need an early legislative slot to enable the Government to implement plans to stop companies which have gone out of business having to be ‘resurrected’ before a compensation claim can be made, which means considerable costs and delays to claims.”