Claims for UK exposure

If you were exposed to asbestos in the UK and later suffer an illness caused by your exposure to asbestos, you can claim compensation in the UK even if you no longer live there. If you were exposed to asbestos both in the UK and in Australia, you may be able to make claims in both the UK and Australia.

Turner Freeman has relationships with law firms in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you were exposed to asbestos in the UK then we will take preliminary details from you in relation to your expsoure to asbestos and your medical history, then contact a law firm in the UK on your behalf and seek advice as to your rights to claim compensation.

Court action

You can make a court claim in the UK for mesothelioma, asbestos related cancer, asbestosis and asbestos related pleural disease.

In the UK a court action will usually be against your employer if you worked with asbestos.  If you worked near someone else who used asbestos, you may be able to claim against their employer, or the manufacturer of the asbestos products.  If you lived near an asbestos factory, you may have a claim against the factory. 

Claims can be made against companies that have gone out of business since 1969.

Claims in the UK can be made on a provisional damages basis. This means you can claim for the asbestos conditions you are now suffering from and reserve your right to bring a future claim if you develop another asbestos disease.

You can obtain a no win-no fee agreement for the legal costs of a claim in the UK.  This is known as a conditional fee agreement.

UK Government benefits

If you have any asbestos disease, except pleural plaques, through coming into contact with asbestos at work in the UK at any time since July 1948, you are eligible to apply for an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.

You can claim for a family member who had an asbestos illness and has died.  However you must apply to the Benefits Agency and be appointed as the person appropriate to deal with this within 12 months after the death of that family member.

Payment under the Pneumoconiosis, etc (Workers’ Compensation) Act, 1979

This is a one-off payment from the Department of Work and Pensions, a UK Government department.  You can claim for yourself or for a relative who had an asbestos illness and has died. 

To be entitled to a payment, you must be eligible for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, your employer must have gone out of business and you or your lawyer must not have started a court action for compensation for an asbestos illness. 

However, it is nearly always worthwhile applying for a 1979 Act payment even if your employer is still in business.

Receiving a payment under the 1979 Act does not stop you from starting a court action afterwards.

There are time limits for applying.  You should apply as soon as you know you have an asbestos condition.  Do not wait for the outcome of your other claims.

If you were exposed to asbestos in both the UK and Australia, and you are suffering from a benign disease such as asbestosis, then you will only recover damages in Australia for your exposure to asbestos in Australia and you will have to sue in the UK in order to recover damages for your exposure to asbestos in the UK. If you are suffering from a malignant condition such as mesothelioma or lung cancer then you do not have to sue both in Australia and the UK, as you can sue in either Australia or the UK and recover all of your damages.