1. Post mortems and the asbestos related diseases

a) Any doctor who writes a Medical Certificate of the cause of death is required to consider whether ‘the death might have been due to or contributed to by the employment followed at some time by the deceased’. Service in HM Forces should also be considered.

b) If the doctor feels that asbestos helped to cause a patient’s death he should report the death to the Coroner, even if the patient actually died from, for example, heart failure or bronchopneumonia. In Scotland the Procurator Fiscal has the power to order a post mortem and hold a public inquiry, but is not required by law to do so, as in England and Wales.

2. Claims made posthumously for the Benefits Agency Industrial Disablement and associated benefits.

a) A Coroner’s pathologist may diagnose an asbestos disease even if the DWP Medical Boarding Centre doctors failed to do so in life. If this happens and industrial benefits were not paid in life, they should be claimed, posthumously, by the next of kin or executors of the estate on behalf of the beneficiaries.

b) The DWP industrial injury benefits should be paid even if the person who has died was self-employed, unemployed or retired, provided they were, at some time, employed where asbestos dust contaminated the air they breathed. It is not necessary to show that they themselves handled asbestos or to prove that employers were negligent.

c) Symptoms of the asbestos diseases do not appear for many years, so early employment may have been responsible.

d) Claim by writing to the local Jobcentre Plus or social security office. Enclose a copy of the death certificate if one has been issued or explain that there is to be an inquest. It costs nothing to claim DWP benefits nor to appeal if a claim is disallowed. Benefits should be paid for the last 3 months of the illness. You have 12 months from death to be appointed to act for the deceased and claim.

e) If there was exposure to asbestos only during service with HM Forces, a War Disablement Pension, not Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, should be claimed. If there was exposure in both the services and civilian employment it may be possible to claim a War Disablement Pension and 11DB compensation from the civilian employer.

See also DWP  VA leaflets 1 and 9. 

f) Prescribed diseases for which claims can be made.
If doctors ask if the patient worked with asbestos, or mention any of the illnesses listed below, but fail to notify the Coroner, relatives should notify the Coroner themselves.

Asbestosis (D1)

Diffuse mesothelioma of pleura or peritoneum (D3)

Diffuse pleural thickening (D9) (But not if employment was only before July 1948.)

Lung Cancer (D8)

3. Industrial death benefit

How to claim UK State Benefits from overseas

You can claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit if you live overseas, providing you were exposed to asbestos during employment in the UK. You can also claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit posthumously on behalf of a relative who had asbestos exposure in the UK. The rules are the same as if you lived in the UK. You should write to:

Pensions and Overseas Benefits Directorate
IND INJ Room TB014
Tyne View Park,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE98 1BA.
Tel: 00 44 191 218 7650
00 44 191 218 7651
Fax: 00 44 191 218 7120