The 2014 Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme
The 2014 Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme — usually shortened to DMPS — exists for people who would have a civil claim against a former employer for asbestos exposure, but can’t bring one because the employer can’t be identified or has no traceable employers’ liability insurer. It is the last-resort route. The scheme was set up by the Mesothelioma Act 2014, opened to applications in July 2014, and is funded by an industry levy on insurers currently writing employers’ liability business. Day-to-day it is run on the government’s behalf by TopMark Claims Management, a division of Davies Group Ltd.
Who it’s for.
- You have diffuse mesothelioma. Pleural, peritoneal and other forms qualify, as long as the diagnosis is diffuse mesothelioma.
- You were first diagnosed on or after 25 July 2012. That is the eligibility cut-off written into the scheme rules; earlier diagnoses are outside scope.
- You were negligently exposed in employmentin the United Kingdom (employer’s liability, broadly the same legal test as a civil claim — see 7.1).
- You can’t identify a relevant employer or insurer to sue, after a proper search. Your solicitor demonstrates this with searches of Companies House, the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO), specialist firm archives, AsbestosIQ (chapter 7.16), and HMRC employment-history records. The scheme will normally want to see that a proper search came up empty.
What it’s worth.A tariff payment, set by age at diagnosis: the younger you were diagnosed, the higher the payment, reflecting lost years and earnings. The tariff has been adjusted twice. From the scheme’s launch in April 2014 it paid 80% of average civil-claim damages. From 10 February 2015 the tariff was raised to 100% of average civil-claim damages for new diagnoses on or after that date, and that has been the running figure since. A further amendment in November 2025 increased the tariff for diagnoses on or after 4 November 2025. So the figure that applies to a particular case depends on the date of diagnosis. The current age tables are in the scheme rules on gov.uk.
The clock. An application must reach the scheme within three yearsof the patient’s first diagnosis of diffuse mesothelioma. Where a diagnosis is only confirmed at or after death (for example, by post-mortem), the regulations include special timing rules for dependants. The scheme also has a discretion to extend time for good reason. If you’re reading this after a bereavement and aren’t sure where the clock stands, ring a specialist solicitor before assuming you’ve missed it.
How to claim. Through a specialist solicitor (chapter 7.4). DMPS claims have their own procedural rules and a panel of decision-makers; the scheme also pays a fixed legal-fees contribution direct to the solicitor, so the legal costs don’t come out of your award. Your solicitor will run the employer-and-insurer search first and apply to DMPS only after the civil route turns out to be closed.
Interaction with benefits and a later civil claim.The Compensation Recovery Unit will deduct IIDB and other recoverable benefits from the DMPS payment, in the same way it would from a civil settlement. If a previously untraced employer or insurer is later identified and pays a civil award, the DMPS payment is normally repaid out of that award. You can’t end up paid twice. You also can’t end up worse off by claiming DMPS in the meantime; the practical case is to apply as soon as the search comes up empty.
1979 / 2008 / 2014 — quick map. The 1979 Act lump sum (chapter 6.8) is for occupational exposure where you have an IIDB award but no real prospect of civil damages. The 2008 Scheme (chapter 6.9) is for non-occupational exposure with no civil route. The 2014 DMPS is for occupational exposure where there would have been a civil claim against an identifiable employer, but the employer or insurer can’t be traced. The same patient will usually only fall under one of the three; your solicitor or an Asbestos Support Group will work out which is yours.