How can I claim compensation?

If you are suffering from ill health as a result of exposure to asbestos dust, you may be able to make a personal injury claim. You will need specialist legal advice to make your claim, whether or not it is settled out of court, or goes to court.

• If you are a union member, then your union should be your first point of call. Most unions have a great deal of expertise in settling personal injury cases, and the solicitors they use are recognised as experts in this field, which puts them in a good position to negotiate an out of court settlement with your employer (or their insurance company).
• If you are not a union member and are thinking of becoming one, you could ask whether your prospective union would help even though you suffered the injury before becoming a member. Different unions will take different approaches to this.
• If you are not a union member, you will need to find another source of legal advice. See our free help page for details of local Law Centres, or visit our section on personal injury claims
• Time limits: you must bring your claim by starting legal proceedings within three years of the date of your illness. You will definitely need legal advice on the claim, so do not delay any further if you believe you may have a claim and have not made one so far.

Further information

Asbestos fact sheets available from Hazards magazine include: No 50 Asbestos Campaign Guide; No 6 Asbestos Fact sheet; and No 4 Construction hazards: www.hazards.org, or tel: 0114 267 8936.

Contact details of a local asbestos campaign near you are available on the Hazards magazine website: www.hazards.org/organisations.htm.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has dedicated a webpage to its asbestos campaign. This webpage details the new duty to manage the risk from asbestos in non-domestic premises: www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/asbestos  HSE publications include:

• Asbestos Campaign News, available on the campaign webpage.
• Asbestos dust: the hidden killer, are you at risk? www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/asbindex.htm
• The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (CAWR), available from HSE Books, tel: 01787 881165, price £9.50.
• A short guide to managing asbestos in premises, available free to download from the HSE

White asbestos: it's still a killer, available from GMB general union, tel: 0208 947 3131, or go to: www.gmb.org.uk