It is well known that sufferers with asbestos related lung disease may be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) and obtain common law compensation from former employers through the courts.1 ,2 The former is a tax free benefit paid weekly or monthly to patients with prescribed diseases—that is, interstitial asbestosis (D1), mesothelioma (D3), bilateral diffuse pleural thickening (D9), and lung cancer (D8) if this occurs in association with asbestosis or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening. Common law compensation may be obtainable for all these conditions but also in other situations such as lung cancer without interstitial asbestosis and some cases of asymptomatic pleural plaques.

It is much less well known that lump sum compensation may also be available from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 for the …