Scheme is expected to come into force in July 2014
The second reading of the Mesothelioma Bill is expected to be debated in the House of Commons on 2 December.
The aim of the bill is to provide workers suffering from the terminal, asbestos-related cancer with compensation when their former employers’ insurance details have been lost.
It will establish a lump-sum payments scheme for sufferers of mesothelioma funded by insurers and establish guidance for the resolution of insurance disputes over the asbestos-related disease.
But critics have raised concerns that it could exclude 50% of asbestos-related lung cancer victims (asbestosis and pleural thickening) who were diagnosed before 25 July 2012, when the scheme was announced.
The Bill completed its House of Lords stages on 22 July and was presented to the House of Commons on 29 August.
Subject to Royal Assent, the scheme is expected to come into force in July 2014.
The Ministry of Justice is also expected to publish its reponse to the Mesothelioma Consultation before the end of the year, which is looking at speeding up the claims process and employing a fixed-costs regime.
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