Lump sum compensation for asbestos related lung disease

Our plain-English summary of Lump sum compensation for asbestos related lung disease, by T. Williams, P. Slade, J. Raeburn (Thorax, 1998).

The study

• Authors: T. Williams, P. Slade, J. Raeburn
• Journal: Thorax
• Published: 1998;53(7):535
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This short occasional note was not a research study; apart from example payment amounts, it reported no data. The authors described a UK lump sum scheme under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers Compensation) Act 1979. It covered interstitial asbestosis, mesothelioma, bilateral diffuse pleural thickening, lung cancer occurring with asbestosis or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening, and byssinosis. It was meant for sufferers, or certain dependants, with no realistic prospect of suing a former employer successfully. It was not paid to anyone who had already received damages or an out of court settlement from an employer, or after their court case had been heard. Claimants normally had to be receiving Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, apply separately, and usually claim within one year of that benefit first becoming payable or of the sufferer's death. The tax free amount depended on age when a Medical Boarding Centre first diagnosed the condition and on disability as assessed by that Board. For example, at 50% disability (diagnosed September 1997), a 50-year-old would receive about £35 000 and a 70-year-old about £5000. The authors recommended applying at the same time as for that benefit.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Occasional note describing a UK compensation scheme; not a study with patients or research data
• Who was studied: No study population. The note described a scheme for sufferers, or certain dependants of sufferers who had died, in the UK who had no realistic prospect of a successful claim against a previous employer
• Main results:
  • Lump sum compensation was available from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions under the 1979 Act for the prescribed diseases (interstitial asbestosis D1, mesothelioma D3, bilateral diffuse pleural thickening D9, lung cancer D8 with asbestosis or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening) and for byssinosis (D2)
  • The authors noted the scheme had not been discussed in several earlier reviews
  • Payment was not available to anyone who had already received damages or an out of court settlement from an employer
  • Once a court case had been heard, payment could not be made, even if the case was lost
  • A one-year time limit for claiming was usually applied, running from the date Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit first became payable or the date the sufferer died
  • The lump sum was calculated from the patient's age when the condition was first diagnosed by one of the Medical Boarding Centres examining IIDB applicants, together with the percentage of disability assessed by that Board
  • Example amounts for a diagnosis in September 1997: with 50% disability, about £35 000 at age 50 and about £5000 at age 70. With 20% disability, about £20 000 and £3000 at similar ages
  • The authors said part of the reason the payment was not well known was that details had only recently been included in Benefits Agency leaflets
• The authors' conclusion: The authors recommended that sufferers apply for this additional payment at the same time as applying for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Compensation for asbestos-related diseases--the U.K. model — M. Britton (1989)
• A guide to compensation for asbestos-related diseases — M.G. Britton, D.T. Hughes, et al. (1981)
• Hyperventilation in men claiming compensation for benign asbestos-related diseases — G.K. Crompton (2010)
• Compensation scheme for complementary and alternative medicine use in asbestos-related diseases in New South Wales, Australia — C. Oak, H.J. Choi, et al. (2012)
• Workers' compensation for nonmalignant asbestos-related lung disease — C. Nevitt, W. Daniell, et al. (1994)
• Asbestos, asbestos-related diseases, and compensation claims in The Netherlands — P. Swuste, A. Burdorf, et al. (2004)

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