Government Payout relief for asbestos victims

A NEW Government scheme will make it easier for sufferers of asbestos-related cancer to get desperately-needed compensation.

More sufferers of mesothelioma, which is always fatal, will now be eligible for up-front payouts.

Derbyshire is considered a hotspot for the disease because of its history of heavy engineering. At least 300 people in the county have died from it in the past 30 years.

It is thought that there are about 75 people in the county currently suffering from the disease but exact figures are unknown.

In the past, the Government gave financial support for workers struggling to get compensation from companies that no longer existed.

But it would not help claimants who were thought to have a good chance of eventually winning money from firms that still existed, or companies that took them over. These claims might have been successful in the end, but often only after the sufferer had died.

Now both classes of claimant will be supported with a lump sum of about £10,000 within six weeks.

And for the first time, payments will be made to those exposed to asbestos from a relative, such as through their overalls, or who were exposed to asbestos environmentally – perhaps living near a factory that used asbestos.

Joanne Carlin, co-ordinator of Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team, said: "It is a good thing that anyone can get a payment now. I think it is going to be mainly women who benefit – who may have inhaled fibres from their husband's or son's overalls. We don't get many of them coming to us but that's maybe because they didn't know they could claim."

Steve Gillingham, of Grosvenor Street, Allenton, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in July, has been unable to apply for a lump sum because his former employer still exists.

The 51-year-old did not expect any money to come through until after he had died.

But under the Mesothelioma Scheme 2008, which began accepting claims yesterday, he can expect a payment in the region of £10,000 before Christmas.

Mr Gillingham said: "This will make my life a lot easier. At the moment we have nothing in the bank, so whatever amount it might be, it will be a very nice Christmas – I cannot plan beyond that at the moment.

"In the past a lot of sufferers have spent the last months of their lives battling to get compensation."

Ms Carlin said it was unknown how many people in Derbyshire would benefit from this scheme.

But the Government anticipates it will be good news for about a third of people diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Angela Cox, whose husband, Derek, died from the disease at the age of 63, in 2002, did not receive any compensation until after her husband's death.

Mrs Cox, 62, of Swadlincote, said: "If I had got the money when Derek was alive, it would have made him feel better and it would have helped me pay for things like my taxi fare to the hospital, which cost £30 a time."