Asbestosis Claims Calculator

If you come into contact with asbestos spores, you can become seriously ill, with symptoms worsening the longer you are exposed. Some of the symptoms you can expect to see include shortness of breath, persistent coughing, wheezing, extreme tiredness, pain in the chest and the shoulder, and even clubbed or swollen fingertips. Unfortunately, there is no cure for asbestosis, and in serious conditions, it can even result in death.

In this guide

• What is the Difference between Asbestosis and Mesothelioma?
• Can You Claim for Asbestosis After Death?
• How Do You Claim for Asbestosis?
• What Evidence and Documents Do You Need for Your Industrial Disease Compensation Claim?
• How Long Does a Claim for Asbestosis Take?
• How Much Compensation Do You Get for an Asbestos Exposure Claim?
• Start Your Asbestos Compensation (UK) Claim Today!

If you’ve been diagnosed with asbestosis or another asbestos-related industrial disease in the UK, you could be entitled to an asbestos exposure claim to cover your medical expenses, lost earnings, as well as pain and suffering.

The compensation you receive depends on how severe your condition is and how it affects your daily life. Typically, you can expect between £18,500 and £130,000 for asbestosis compensation. The claims process usually takes between three months to three years (depending on how complex your case is), and you have three years from your diagnosis date to start your claim under UK law.

What is the Difference between Asbestosis and Mesothelioma?

Both asbestosis and mesothelioma result from breathing in asbestos fibres, but they affect your body differently. According to Cancer Research UK, around 2,200 people in the UK die from mesothelioma each year, while asbestosis accounted for 497 deaths in 2023.

Asbestosis is a lung disease where your lung tissue becomes scarred and stiff over time. When you breathe in asbestos fibres, they get trapped in the tiny air sacs in your lungs and cause damage. This scarring makes it hard for your lungs to work properly, which leads to breathing problems. The good news is that asbestosis is not cancer. It usually develops slowly after you’ve been exposed to large amounts of asbestos over many years, typically five years or more. While there’s no cure, the condition doesn’t spread to other parts of your body like cancer does.

Mesothelioma, on the other hand, is a rare form of cancer that affects the thin layer of tissue covering your internal organs. It most often develops in the lining of your lungs (called the pleura), but it can also affect your abdomen, heart, or testicles. What makes mesothelioma different is that it can develop even after low levels of asbestos exposure. Once symptoms appear, the disease progresses much faster than asbestosis and is usually fatal.

Both conditions share similar symptoms, like chest pain, persistent coughing, breathlessness, and tiredness. However, mesothelioma can cause other symptoms depending on where it develops, such as abdominal pain or swelling if it affects your stomach area.

Another key difference is how long these diseases take to show up. Both have what doctors call a “long latency period,” meaning symptoms typically appear between 10 and 50 years after you first breathed in asbestos fibres. For mesothelioma specifically, it usually takes around 40 years for symptoms to present themselves, though in some cases it can be as little as 10 years.

If you’re diagnosed with either condition and you were exposed to asbestos at work, you can make a claim for compensation. Similar to how you might claim council house damp compensation for poor living conditions, asbestos exposure claims hold employers accountable for failing to protect their workers.

Can You Claim for Asbestosis After Death?

If you have recently lost a loved one to asbestosis, you may still be able to make a claim. This is a difficult time due to the emotions involved with the loss of a loved one; however, it can also be a significant time in terms of financial implications for you. If your loved one has experienced any form of disease as a result of asbestos, including asbestosis, lung cancer, pleural thickening, or mesothelioma, then you could stand to regain some financial compensation. On behalf of your loved one, solicitors can help you to make a claim even after their death. While this can never make up for the death of your loved one, it can help you make life a lot easier during a tough time.

How Do You Claim for Asbestosis?

There are quite a few stages to making a compensation claim; however, it is definitely worth pursuing to ensure you get the justice you deserve. These are the general steps we will take to get the best possible result for your claim:

1. Initial claim

The first step is to put together a letter that details your claim. In this letter, you should outline the details of the issue that has been caused as a result of asbestos exposure. This needs to be sent to the third party so that they are notified of the claim that you are making.

2. Collecting evidence

The next step is to gather together all of the evidence that you or your loved one became ill as a result of asbestos exposure. You have to be able to show that the illness was a result of asbestos rather than any other cause to have a claim.

3. Assessing financial losses

To continue with your claim, you will need to work out how much you are actually entitled to as a result of this illness. This could include the cost of any medication, travel expenses for medical purposes, and any lost wages as a result of the illness. You can use our calculator to work out how much you could be entitled to.

4. Settlement

The final step is the settlement. Not all claims are successful, and at this point, you will find out if your claim has failed or if you reached a settlement. Once your claim has been accepted, you will be offered compensation. You can decide if you are happy with this result and want to accept, in which case you will need to sign to confirm.

Before you settle, there are a lot of steps to complete and evidence to gather, and you may find that you have to go through courts and deal with difficult third parties to fight for your claim. We, however, can match you with the right legal team to offer you the support you need. We understand that this is a hard time, and so we are happy to fight for justice on your behalf to get you the best settlement possible so that you can continue to live your life.

What Evidence and Documents Do You Need for Your Industrial Disease Compensation Claim?

You need strong evidence to make a successful industrial disease compensation claim. You need to prove both your illness and how it connects to your workplace. Here is a list of some of the evidence you need:

Medical Records and Diagnosis

Your medical records are the number one evidence of asbestos exposure. You need detailed records showing your diagnosis, all treatments you’ve received, and what doctors expect to happen with your condition in the future. These records should clearly explain how your illness is linked to asbestos exposure. Your GP records, hospital letters, and specialist reports are all important in building your case. If you were diagnosed recently, make sure you get copies of all medical documents related to your asbestos-related condition.

Employment History Documentation

You need to prove where and when you were exposed to asbestos. This means gathering information about every job where you might have come into contact with asbestos materials. Write down the names of all your employers, the dates you worked there, and exactly what tasks you performed. The more detailed your work history, the easier it becomes to trace where your asbestos exposure happened.

Witness Statements

Former colleagues who worked alongside you can provide evidence for your claim. These witnesses can confirm the conditions you worked in and verify that asbestos was present in your workplace. They might remember seeing asbestos materials being handled, cut, or disturbed without proper safety equipment. Written statements from co-workers who can back up your story can strengthen your asbestosis compensation claim.

Employer Safety Records

Your employer should have kept records of safety measures, risk assessments, and any training you received about asbestos dangers. These documents can show whether your employer failed to protect you properly. If your employer didn’t provide adequate safety equipment, failed to warn you about asbestos risks, or didn’t follow proper procedures, these records prove their negligence. Your solicitor can help you request these documents from your former employer or their insurance company.

Financial Documents and Receipts

Keep every receipt and document that shows how your illness has affected you financially. This includes medical bills, prescription costs, travel expenses to hospital appointments, and receipts for any equipment you need (like oxygen tanks or inhalers). If you’ve had to modify your home to cope with your condition, keep records of those costs too. You should also have payslips that show lost earnings if you’ve had to reduce your working hours or stop working completely because of your illness.

Union Records or Safety Reports

If you were a union member, they might have records of safety concerns raised about asbestos in your workplace. Health and safety inspection reports from your former workplace can also support your claim by showing known asbestos problems.

How Long Does a Claim for Asbestosis Take?

A claim for asbestos injury can be a fairly lengthy process. At the upper end, you could be looking at a process of around a year or 18 months; however, it could also be as little as 90 days until your settlement is complete. This depends on how complex your case is. If it is more complicated and more evidence is needed to decide your case, then you may find it takes even longer, and you do not receive a final decision for anywhere up to three years.

Fast-Track Claims

UK courts recognize that some people with asbestos-related diseases don’t have time to wait for a normal claims process. If you’re terminally ill, severely disabled, or expected to become severely disabled, your solicitor can request a fast-track procedure. In these urgent cases, your claim might be resolved within weeks or a few months of starting court proceedings.

The Three-Year Time Limit

You should know that there is a time limit for asbestosis compensation claims in the UK. Under the Limitation Act 1980, you have three years from your “date of knowledge” to start your claim. This date usually means when a medical professional officially diagnosed your asbestos-related condition, not when you were first exposed to asbestos (which might have been decades ago).

What Happens When Someone Dies?

If someone passes away from an asbestos-related disease, their family or executors have three years from the date of death to make a claim. If the person started a claim before they died but didn’t finish it, their representatives can continue the claim. In cases where an asbestos-related disease is only discovered after someone’s death, the three-year period begins from when the family learned about the cause of death.

Interim Payments

Even though your full claim might take many months to settle, you don’t necessarily have to wait until the end to receive money. If your employer accepts responsibility early on, your solicitor can request interim payments. These are advance payments from your final settlement amount that help you cover urgent costs like medical treatment, care needs, or lost wages while your claim continues.

How Much Compensation Do You Get for an Asbestos Exposure Claim?

The amount of compensation that you could receive for an asbestos exposure claim depends on the severity of your illness. Your compensation is split into two main parts. General damages cover your pain, suffering, and how your quality of life has been affected by your illness. Special damages cover the actual money you’ve lost or spent because of your condition, like medical bills and lost wages.

Now, let’s look at how much you could receive depending on the illness severity:

Asbestosis

For asbestosis, the severity of your lung damage determines how much you receive. If your lung function is only slightly affected (less than 10% impairment), you can typically expect between £18,500 and £44,000 in compensation.

However, if your asbestosis is more serious with lung function impairment greater than 10%, and you experience significant breathlessness that limits what you can do, compensation typically ranges from £44,000 to £130,000. More severe cases, where you struggle to walk, climb stairs, or perform basic tasks, may receive higher amounts within this range.

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is the most serious asbestos-related disease and unfortunately causes severe pain and usually leads to death. Because of its devastating impact, mesothelioma compensation is typically higher than for other asbestos conditions. Most mesothelioma claims result in payments between £78,000 and £140,000, though some cases receive over £500,000 or even more than £1,000,000.

Lung Cancer

Asbestos-related lung cancer usually results in compensation between £86,000 and £119,000. While lung cancer from asbestos is serious and often fatal, it’s generally not as painful as mesothelioma, which is why the amounts are slightly lower. However, if you also smoked cigarettes, this might affect your compensation amount because smoking contributes to lung cancer risk.

Pleural Thickening

Pleural thickening is when the lining around your lungs becomes scarred and thickened. This condition can make breathing difficult, but it is less severe than other asbestos diseases. Compensation for pleural thickening typically starts at around £10,000 for mild cases and can go up to £44,000 for more serious cases where breathing problems affect your daily life.

Government Compensation Schemes for Asbestos-Related Diseases

If you can’t trace your former employer or their insurance company, you might still be able to claim through government schemes. The Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme pays people diagnosed with mesothelioma who can’t make a civil claim. Payment amounts depend on your age when diagnosed.

You might also qualify for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, which pays up to £221.50 per week if you’re assessed as 100% disabled. This is a separate payment from compensation claims and doesn’t affect your right to claim against employers.

Start Your Asbestos Compensation (UK) Claim Today!

If you have been affected by asbestos in recent years, you could stand to get compensation. However, this can be a very complex process. To make sure you get what you deserve, our legal partners are on hand to help you navigate the process and get justice.

If you’re ready to submit a personal injury claim, visit our enquiry page today.