Many asbestos related Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit payments, including lump sum awards made under the Pneumoconiosis Workers’ Compensation Act 1979, are only just being made by the DWP. In some cases this is over a year after the original claim was submitted and, according to the DWP, this is a result of not being able to make assessments during COVID.
The normal date that lump sum payments are made from, is the date Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is assessed, not when the application is made. This is a practice that has continued to be applied during COVID.
The DWP have been unable to put into place a process for making assessments in a timely and reasonable manner which means that some people may miss out on money that was due to them. The amount payable is dependent on the claimants age at assessment so for people who have had a birthday since making their claim, the amount payed to them will be less than if it had been dealt with in a timely manner.
We have been raising the issues about delays with the DWP, in conjunction with The Asbestos Victim’s Support Group Forum, and have been told they are aware of the situation and policy and are looking into it. Our clients have also been raising the issue with MP’s.
We have been campaigning for the process of accessing Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit to be speeded up, as ongoing delays may mean some people will not see their entitlement.
We have written Freedom of Information requests to the DWP and identified that, before COVID, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit cases would take approximately 9 weeks. They are now taking over 12 months and counting!
We are arguing that victims should not be penalised because of the pandemic and paid the full amount of compensation under the Pneumoconiosis Workers’ Compensation Act 1979 that hey would have received had it not been for the delays by the DWP.
We are lobbying MP’s to raise these issues with the appropriate Minister.
We are asking if the current Government Compensation scheme can be reviewed and improved.
We are proposing that the date to trigger the Worker’s Compensation Scheme payment is the date the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit claim form was received.
We are fighting for the equalisation of lump sum payments under the Worker’s Compensation Scheme where living and posthumous cases would be paid the same amount of compensation.