Loved ones of asbestos victims to receive fairer compensation

Last week, the UK Government announced upcoming changes to legislation that will see families of asbestos victims given fairer compensation. 

People diagnosed with asbestos-related conditions can claim a compensation lump-sum from the government where they haven’t already received compensation from their employer. For some asbestos sufferers, for example for those whose employers (and their employer’s insurers) have gone out of business, this is the only compensation they will be able to receive.

Under the current law, if the compensation is claimed by the family after the asbestos sufferer has died, the compensation is paid at a reduced rate compared to what it would have been had the claim been made while the sufferer was still alive. For example, the average lump-sum payment paid to asbestos-sufferers is £17,700, but the average payment made to sufferers’ dependents is only £10,700.[1] This is a significant reduction in compensation.

However, after an independent legal review of the compensation schemes, the Government has now announced that the law will be changed to rectify this injustice. Families who have lost loved ones to asbestos will now receive the same amount of compensation that would have been paid to their relative had they been alive when the compensation was awarded.

As members of the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum (AVSGF), we have been making the case for a change in the law for years, citing how unfair this disparity has been for families who are suffering a bereavement due to asbestos.

Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, has said

“Families who have lost a loved one to a disease caused by their work deserve our support, not a system that treats them as an afterthought.

That’s exactly what’s been happening, and campaigners have been telling us for over a decade that it’s wrong. Today we’re fixing it. Fairer, simpler, clearer support for families, at an incredibly difficult time in their lives.”

As well as equalising the compensation for bereaved families, the compensation scheme is also going to be simplified and made clearer, making it easier for families to claim the compensation they deserve. Changes are expected to come into force on 31 October.

At Clydebank Asbestos Group we are really pleased that these important changes have been announced and want to thank the Department of Work and Pensions for their work on this legislation to improve support for bereaved families.

[1] Press release: Loved ones of asbestos and dust-disease victims to receive fairer compensation. Department of Work and Pensions. 1 September 2026. Loved ones of asbestos and dust-disease victims to receive fairer compensation - GOV.UK