Bereaved families to get full asbestos lump sums as DWP scheme change takes effect

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has brought into force regulations that give the dependants of workers who died from asbestos and dust-related diseases before claiming the same lump-sum award the sufferer would have received.

The change took effect on 31 October 2026 and affects the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 scheme and the 2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme. DWP said about 300 families a year would benefit.

Both schemes pay lump sums to people who contracted a dust-related disease through work, or to their dependants, where damages cannot be claimed from an employer, often because the employer no longer exists, DWP said.

Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, said: "From today, bereaved families will receive the full compensation their loved ones would have been entitled to, ending a longstanding unfairness in the system."

The payments

In 2025, DWP said, sufferers received average payments of about £17,700 through the schemes. Where an eligible person died before claiming, dependants received average payments of about £10,700, about £7,000 less.

DWP gave worked examples for a 60-year-old claimant. Under the 2008 scheme, a dependant would previously have received £24,526 and will now receive £56,656. Under the 1979 scheme, a 60-year-old with a disablement assessment of 31-40% would receive £34,062 at 2026/27 rates; a dependant previously received £21,011 and will now receive the full £34,062.

Scheme (60-year-old claimant)	Dependant award before	Dependant award now
2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme	£24,526	£56,656
1979 Act scheme (31-40% disablement)	£21,011	£34,062

DWP estimated the cost of the change at between £2m and £6m a year. The Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum – UK, which DWP credited with campaigning for the change, had put the cost of equalising payments at £1.5m on its own campaign page, an undated estimate on a page citing 2019-20 rates.

In 2025, 2,730 sufferers received an award under the schemes and a further 300 awards went to dependants at the lower rate, DWP said in September.

The legislation

The instrument is the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, made as SI 2026 No. 1146 according to legislation.gov.uk. DWP laid the draft in Parliament on 1 September 2026, and regulation 1 brings it into force on 31 October 2026.

DWP said the new law applies to new dependant claims made from 31 October 2026 and is not retrospective. Under the 2008 scheme, GOV.UK guidance says a dependant must claim within 12 months of the sufferer's death.

The regulations also remove outdated top-up payments, introduce a single award structure and delete rules referring to Pneumoconiosis Medical Boards, which stopped operating years ago, DWP said. The changes follow an independent legal review of the schemes that recommended updates to reduce legal and reputational risk, including a clear "relevant date" for calculating awards.

DWP named Baroness Blower among parliamentarians who had raised the issue for more than a decade. The corresponding scheme in Northern Ireland, run by the Department for Communities, is expected to introduce similar changes in due course, DWP said.

Melanie Ward, UK Government Minister for Scotland, said the reform applies to victims in Scotland and would increase payments for grieving families across the UK.

The safety context

Jane Lassey, Director of Regulation at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said: "HSE's priority remains preventing future harm. We will keep working with employers, workers and partners to make sure the risks from asbestos are understood and managed, so that fewer families have to go through this loss."

HSE's latest annual figures, published in July, recorded 2,146 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2024, a fall of 109 on 2023 and below the average of 2,508 a year over 2011-2020. HSE said many current deaths reflect exposure that often occurred before the 1980s and that annual deaths are expected to keep falling over the next decade.

Separately, HSE's asbestos guidance says asbestos still kills around 5,000 workers a year, that around 20 tradespeople die each week from past exposure, and that the material can be present in any building built or refurbished before 2000.

In September, Lassey said HSE continues to deliver guidance, awareness campaigns and enforcement activity on asbestos.

Dependants making a claim under the 2008 scheme have 12 months from the date of death to do so.