Association of Personal Injury Lawyers update – Mesothelioma Act regulations approved

Regulations to accompany the Mesothelioma Act 2014 were approved in separate debates held by MPs and peers this week, in which it was confirmed that the amount of compensation to be paid under the scheme will be 80 per cent of average civil compensation.In his opening address to the House of Lords, work and pensions minister Lord Freud paid tribute to those who had been involved with the Act, and referred to a “collaborative act to get this legislation onto the statue book”.In the House of Commons, Labour’s Ian Lavery asked the Government if there would be an opportunity to review the compensation amount with the view of increasing it to 100 per cent. This idea was dismissed by work and pensions minister Mike Penning, who said that the Government needs to ensure the cost of the scheme is not passed onto new business.http://www.apil.org.uk/publications/weekly-news.aspx?edition=20032014