People who get a mesothelioma because they worked with asbestos in the past may be able to get compensation in two ways: either through benefits paid by the government or by suing the employer, in the job where they were exposed to asbestos. (See our separate Q&A about compensation from employers.)

This answer deals with benefits paid by the government.

The main benefit payable for people with asbestos-related illnesses is Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (diseases and deafness).

This is paid, as a regular weekly allowance, to people who have mesothelioma and can show that they have worked in a job which exposed them to asbestos (the level of exposure must be above the level normally found in the air). The work may not have involved actually handling asbestos but may have been done somewhere where there was a higher than normal level of asbestos in the air.

This benefit is not paid if you were self-employed in the work that lead to the asbestos exposure.

Before getting the benefit there will usually be a medical examination to make sure your father has mesothelioma and to assess how seriously he is disabled.

If this examination shows that your father is very severely disabled he may be able to claim a Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) as well as the disablement benefit. If he is less severely affected then he may still be able to claim Disability Living Allowance (if his illness began before he was 65) or Attendance Allowance (if it began after he was 65).

Other benefits that may be available are intended to make up for loss of earnings (income replacement). These might include Statutory Sick Pay, Short Term Lower Rate Incapacity Benefit, Income support and/or Severe Disablement Allowance. Which, if any, of these is payable depends on any one individual's circumstances and so your father would need to check if it is possible for him to claim.

Any claim for any of these benefits should be made as soon as possible.

The way to claim is either to get a form from your local Benefits Agency (the address should be in your local telephone directory or you can ring their enquiry line on 0800 882200, the person taking the enquiry will also be able to give confidential general advice about claiming and allowances) or you can download the form, or fill it in on screen, at their website on www.dwp.gov.uk.

Your local Benefits Agency and Social Security office will have leaflets on the various benefits available and be able to give advice.  Other people who might be able to help are the hospital social worker, your father's GP or hospital doctors, or your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.

The exact amount of the benefits which are payable are regularly increased and the up to date figures will be on the website, given above, or available at your local Benefits Agency.

Another type of government paid that may sometimes be paid comes from the Pneumoconiosis etc (worker's compensation act of parliament of 1979.

This is for people who think they have a legal claim against a previous employer, for exposure to asbestos, but the company has gone out of business and their insurer's no longer provide cover for compensation claims. If the claim is successful then it provides a lump sum of cash rather than a regular allowance. The conditions that have to be met for a claim to be considered are:

• that disablement benefit for mesothelioma is being paid to the person making the claim
• that the previous employer who was responsible for the asbestos exposure is no longer in business
• that the person making the claim has not made a previous claim against that employer that was either settled or disallowed because there was not enough evidence to support the claim.