Work and Pensions Minister Lord Freud announced this week that payments made under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme are to be increased.
In a written ministerial statement published on Tuesday 10th February, Lord Freud said that payments would be increased to 100 per cent of average civil claims, from the current 80 per cent. The increased compensation, however, will only be available to those applicants to the diagnosed with mesothelioma on or after Tuesday 10th February.
Speaking the next day during a parliamentary debate, Work and Pensions Minister Mark Harper told MPs that the cost of the scheme had been lower than what was expected. Due to this, and because the “Employers’ Liability Tracing Office has been doing an increasingly good job of tracing insurance”, the Government thought it was “right” to increase the payments under the scheme.
You can read the full statement on the Parliament website
