benefits and compensation
Sign the petition to save Phoenix House
Readers of our blog will know that on 26 April, and in our summer newsletter, we asked you to write to your MPs about the plans to close Phoenix House. This is the DWP’s specialist centre that deals with asbestos and other occupational disease benefits. It is threatened with closure next year. The skills and…
Read MorePlease help save the Barrow Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Centre
If you have claimed Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and the government’s Lump Sum Scheme – officially known as the Pneumoconiosis etc. Workers’ Compensation Scheme – you will have dealt with the Barrow-in-Furness office. The planned closure of this site will mean that a wealth of expertise is lost. The Barrow office is a small team…
Read MoreLandmark battle for documents that show Asbestolux manufacturer Cape knew that asbestos insulation board was dangerous
Important historical documents have been saved from destruction thanks to a court battle waged by the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK (the Forum). They will be vital to future asbestos compensation cases. The documents would have been destroyed but for the timely intervention of the Forum. They provide extraordinary evidence that the asbestos manufacturing…
Read MoreDogged research by his solicitor leads to a just and fair settlement 50 years after Mr Lovell was exposed to lethal asbestos
One of our service users, who believes he was exposed to asbestos for just two weeks in Devon in the mid-1960s, has secured compensation thanks to a forensic investigation to trace the company he believed was responsible. Brian was cutting up and nailing asbestos sheets Brian Lovell was diagnosed with mesothelioma more than 50 years…
Read MoreA personal view of mesothelioma by Rob Harper
It seems many years ago now that I was asked by Doug Jewell, who was then the manager of Asbestos Support Central England (ASCE)), if the Clarion Choir would sing for Action Mesothelioma Day. Clarion have long been prepared to support and raise awareness of issues that affect working people and their families so they…
Read MoreRoy writes about the help he and his wife Lyn received from Asbestos Support Central England
Asbestos Support Central England (ASCE) helped my wife Lyn and I as we were trying to come to terms with the life-devastating diagnosis of Mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer. At that point we were both less than rational. It was impossible for us to see the wood for the trees. Getting us the help we…
Read MoreIs this Good News?
The UK Forum of Asbestos Victims’ Support Groups has been informed that a special payment will now be made to claimants with asbestosis and pleural thickening who missed out on some of their government compensation. This happened because of the suspension of medical assessments after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of MPs…
Read MoreOne of our service users has been waiting more than14 months for his claim to be assessed
In May members of the All Party Parliament Group on Asbestos met Justin Tomlinson, the minister of state for disabled people, with some of his team. The Asbestos Group raised the issue of how Covid-19 affects patients with pleural thickening and asbestosis. Most have been waiting for many months before their claims for benefit and…
Read MoreWhy is the the government asking victims of injustice to help sort out a mess of its own making?
It is now more than two months since Justin Tomlinson, the Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health, made promises to right any injustices caused by the pandemic. But we still don’t know whether claimants with asbestosis & pleural thickening are to be denied part of their compensation under the government’s lump sum…
Read MoreWhy are they still waiting?
The sun is shining more often and we are starting to unlock, yet people with asbestosis & pleural thickening are still missing out because of the pandemic. The Department of Work and Pensions is slowly processing their claims for government benefits and compensation but there is still an unacceptable backlog. This is causing delays and…
Read More